Lights on the Water
by Bee03
Summary: It just wouldn't be a vacation without you and a body, Bones. //BB// NOTE: Pen name change, formerly SpikesSweetie.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I only own the characters not seen in the show...

Summary: Booth calls Bones to help him on a case on a Caribbean cruise ship where he is vacationing…

A/N: I like to write stories about the Caribbean because it is my favorite place in the world, and I like to take Bones out of DC because I feel it allows for more freedom with the characters. Please enjoy and tell me what you think.

(--)

Dr. Temperance Brennan was in a mood. Fortunately for her companions it was not an excessively unpleasant one. She didn't complain about the wind in her hair or the sunlight glaring off her dark sunglasses and she didn't mention anything about the earliness of their trip. For all of this, Mike Pierce was thankful.

He tossed a glance at his partner, Evelyn Keyshaw; both of them had been warned about the woman sitting in their small police launch. Her partner said she had a fiery temper which would probably be directed at them since he was not in the vicinity. Pierce had laughed when he heard this but once he saw the tall, strong brunette with the ice-blue eyes, he realized the man hadn't been joking.

Since the doc had stepped into the boat she had only asked how long they expected the trip to take. Pierce had told her it would be about an hour. After that she hadn't spoken. She actually seemed like she was enjoying herself in the front of the launch. He even thought he caught a faint smile every once in a while.

After a while, the Dr. Brennan reached a hand to her brow, further shading her eyes, she turned to Pierce and Keyshaw and pointed to something on the horizon.

"Is that it?" Dr. Brennan asked.

Pierce grabbed the binoculars from a hook on the side of the boat. He directed them in the direction that Dr. Brennan was pointing. He was impressed, the woman was good. A squint for sure, but a talented one at that.

"I think so, Dr. Brennan," Pierce replied, "we should be there in about twenty minutes."

Brennan turned toward the partners standing behind her and frowned slightly, as if just noticing that there were two of them. Pierce raised an eyebrow at her. Then he realized that she wasn't looking at them, but at the floor of the boat. She was an odd one.

"Have you heard anything about what happened there?" she jabbed a thumb at the slowly growing dot.

Pierce shook his head, "Sorry, we know about as much as you do. We assumed your partner would've filled you in."

"Yeah, you'd think," Brennan replied.

"He said he'd be waiting for you when we arrived," Keyshaw said.

"How thoughtful…" Pierce noted how Brennan's mood seemed to have changed when discussing her partner. He sent an eyebrow raise to Keyshaw before averting his eyes to the ground. Both made a mental note not to mention him again.

(--)

Special Agent Seeley Booth leaned against the railing of the four-star cruise ship. His sunglasses rested on the bridge of his nose as he watched the early-risers pass by him on the way to breakfast and waited for Brennan to get there. A laugh at his side drew his attention to the deck where Parker was sitting with a coloring book and some crayons.

He knelt beside his son and put a hand on the boy's head. He felt bad for rousing Parker so early but when the head of the cruise security had knocked on his door at four-thirty the FBI agent couldn't deny his request for assistance. The problem was: the daycare service didn't open until 7:30 and with a dead body on board, Booth was skeptical about leaving his six-year-old son alone in their stateroom.

So here they were, sitting in the cool Caribbean air, on the deck of the Princess Grace, waiting for Bones to show up and do what she did best. It was only quarter to seven, so Parker would have to stay with them for the time being, assuming she arrived sometime that day.

He didn't mean to be annoyed with her. Actually, to tell the truth, it wasn't her. It was Sully. And that was because at five in the morning it was Sully who answered Bones' cell. Booth gripped the railing as he remembered Sully's voice over the phone, the rustling of sheets and then the tired sound of Bones' voice. By the time she picked up he was fuming. So maybe he'd been a little bit harsher with her than he'd intended and maybe he'd snapped when she asked what the case was, he really didn't mean to be a jerk.

He heard the faint sound of a boat engine in the distance. Head of Security Vincent Hernandez was standing beside him watching for Brennan's launch when he pointed at a small boat approaching. Booth stood up and turned toward the boat. Brennan was standing in the front, a dark grimace on her face. Booth straightened his tie and stepped to the side of the ship as the police launch pulled up next to the ladder.

"Hey Bones!" Booth called down to her. She glared up at him through her sunglasses. Once she reached the top, Booth gave her his charm smile but she didn't reply. Instead she turned to the little boy on the deck. They had met a few times before but the boy surprised Brennan when he threw his arms around her neck.

" Hiya Dr. Bones," Parker said.

"Hi Parker," Brennan smiled, pulling her sunglasses from her nose and nestling them on the child's face, "are you having fun?"

"Yeah, but I'm kinda tired. Daddy got me up real early this morning," Parker explained.

"I see," Brennan replied. She stood up and the boy latched onto her free hand. She glanced down at him and smiled before turning her glare back on Booth.

"So where am I going?" Brennan asked, implying Booth to direct her to the body.

"Boiler room," Booth replied. Brennan flinched slightly, "Yeah, it's not pretty."

"What's not pretty?" Parker asked. Brennan looked down at him quickly before glancing at Booth who knelt in front of his son.

"Parker, Bud, Dr. Brennan is here because I needed her help with something," Booth tried to explain.

"Agent Booth," Hernandez interrupted stepping forward, a young woman slightly behind him, "this is Melissa. She works in the children's area Discovery Land." The girl stepped forward.

"Sir, my shift doesn't start for another couple of hours but I'd be happy to watch your son for you while you and your wife work," Melissa, a pretty blonde, said.

"Oh! We're not--no, us…yeah no," Booth explained quickly, motioning between he and Brennan with his hand.

"Oh, I beg your pardon, I assumed," Melissa replied.

"It's fine," Booth waved it off casually, stopping his mind from imagining what it would really be like if he and Bones were married. He shuddered at the thought.

After a moment, Booth noticed that Brennan was looking at him expectantly, as were Hernandez and Melissa. He realized they were waiting for him to reply to Melissa's offer to take care of Parker while he and Bones investigated the body. He shifted his eyes to Temperance quickly before smiling brightly at Melissa.

"That would be helpful." From the corner of his eye, he saw Bones bend down to Parker's side again.

"Parker, your Daddy and I have work we have to do, but how would you like it if you went with Melissa so you wouldn't be bored?" Brennan suggested.

"Okay," Parker nodded and transferred his hand from Temperance's to Melissa's. The blonde gave Tempe a last look before smiling down at Parker and leading him in the opposite direction.

Brennan watched as Melissa took Parker away and felt a pang of guilt that they were just sending him away on his own vacation. But she ignored the feeling and turned back to Booth and the older man standing next to him. The older man stepped forward and, extending his hand, introduced himself as Vincent Hernandez, Head of Security.

"It's a real honor to have you on board. Agent Booth has spoken nothing but good things of you," Hernandez said, a smile plastered on his tan face.

"Thank you," Temperance replied, she noticed the two police officers who had brought her over to the cruise ship on their boat, "these are Officers Pierce and Keyshaw, from the St. Thomas Police Department."

Both Booth and Hernandez shook hands with the pair. Introductions out of the way, Brennan asked to be taken to see the body. On the way to the boiler room, Hernandez explained how one of his maintenance men found it early this morning. He said they immediately called on Booth. Brennan questioned how they knew he was FBI. Booth explained that he had to tell them so he could bring his firearm. Brennan called him paranoid. Booth rolled his eyes.

"This is where we found it," Hernandez pointed to a corpse pulled halfway out of a steaming coal pit. Brennan frowned at the body, analyzing every detail, doing her job.

"What does it look like?" Booth questioned. His notepad had been left at home. Brennan might think him paranoid for bringing his gun but he hadn't really expected to be working a case while on vacation. He was currently writing on one of the complementary message pads from his stateroom.

"Female. Twenty-five to thirty years of age. She was short about 5'4" standing straight up," Brennan stepped forward, "is this thing off?" she asked pointing to the boiler.

"Yes ma'am," a surly maintenance man said. Brennan nodded, but still she approached cautiously. She rolled one of her latex gloves over hand and grabbed her tweezers from the bag at her feet.

"What is it, Bones?" Booth inquired.

"Looks like a tattoo," Brennan replied, "Some sort of Chinese character."

"Do you know what it means?" Booth asked.

"No, but give me your notebook," she ordered. He rolled his eyes again and handed her the pencil and complementary pad. She glanced down at it and frowned before looking back at him.

"Vacation, Bones," he answered. Brennan nodded and turned back to the corpse. She began her amateur sketch of the tattoo that was barely visible on the burned wrist, all the while wishing Angela was there to help her.

"She's certainly a feisty one isn't she?" Hernandez whispered softly to Booth. The agent looked at him and nodded slightly, smiling cheekily as he did so.

(--)

"Dr. Brennan, I don't think you understand, we are on a ship," Captain Gerard Antoine stood nose to nose with the doctor while Booth, Hernandez and the two cops stood scattered around the room.

"Of course I understand, that would explain why there's water on all sides," Brennan snapped back.

"Then let me make it perfectly clear to you," the Captain said, "you cannot take a launch and expect to get to any island with an airport which you can transport the body."

"Captain, with all due respect," Booth snorted behind her and she threw a look of daggers at him before turning her icy glare back on the captain, "the people in DC can better identify the body, find a cause of death and allow Booth to continue his investigation down here."

"I thought we already knew how she died? They found her in the boiler, didn't they, Hernandez?" the man nodded in response, "then what do you need, Dr. Brennan?"

"I need to identify the body!" Brennan said with exasperation.

"Hernandez, search guests and staff, find out who's missing," Antoine said. Hernandez nodded and stepped out of the cabin.

"Well, perhaps you'll let Booth do his job, since you are preventing me from doing mine," Brennan said coolly. The captain gave her a look.

"Dr. Brennan, we are a highly rated cruise line, and I refuse to allow you to instill a panic by openly removing a body from the inner holds of this ship."

"Captain, don't you think people are gonna figure it out soon enough? I think it'll create less of a panic if people are told about it."

"Dr. Brennan, I allowed Agent Booth to bring you here because I assumed he needed your help. _He_ did. _I _did not ask you to be here. So excuse me if I ignore your advice."

Brennan shook her head in disgust and threw her arms above her head. With a frustrated huff, she turned on her heel and stalked back to Booth's side. He gave her a sympathetic smile but she was staring straight ahead. Apparently her anger was deep-seeded this morning. Booth yawned. He realized he'd barely gotten enough sleep the previous night. He'd been up late, pacing, finding that sleep escaped him because he was worrying. He worried that Brennan would be thrown a case, get herself into trouble, as usual, and not be able to get herself out of it.

It was stupid, he knew. Temperance was a strong woman. She could take care of herself, and she made that known to everyone, especially him. Still, he liked knowing that she did in fact need him sometimes, even if it was just when she was up against immeasurable circumstances of danger and death. He grinned at the scientist standing beside him. She was even more gorgeous when she was mad.

The captain had begun talking with his First Mate when a faint knock on the cabin door attracted his attention. Hernandez stepped inside he wore a worried look on his face. Booth and Brennan frowned as they saw a hysterical woman standing outside the cabin. She was dressed in a nightie and sheer silk bathrobe.

"Sir, there's something you should hear," Hernandez jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the woman who several cruise employees seemed to be trying to calm down.

"Bring her in," Antoine said.

Hernandez nodded again, turned and beckoned the girl inside. She looked completely frazzled. Her hair was matted, her mascara was running down her cheeks and her face was red and splotchy. She was a mess. Booth immediately stepped forward, placing a comforting hand on her forearm.

"Miss, what's wrong? Did something happen to you?" Booth questioned softly.

The woman looked up, "Me? No. Oh, god. What am I going to do? I was supposed to watch her! What was I supposed to do? I have to work too, you know! I can't believe this."

"Miss, please calm down, why don't you start by telling me your name…" Booth suggested.

"My name? My name is Penny, Penny Persons."

"Okay, Miss Persons, you said you were supposed to watch her? Who were you referring to?"

"Izzy, I was supposed to watch Izzy!" Penny said, grabbing onto Booth's arm.

"Who's Izzy? Your sister?"

"No, she's Regina's little girl!"

" Regina, Regina who?"

"Um, Daly, Regina Daly."

"So, Izzy Daly is missing?"

"Yes! Don't you understand? I thought Regina had he but then I heard what happened and I freaked out."

"What happened?" Brennan stepped forward, interest peaking her voice.

"Yeah, about that body in the boiler..." Penny looked between Booth and Brennan.

"How did you hear about that?" Antoine asked, anger lacing his voice.

"That's not important; you think the body belongs to Regina Daly?" Booth asked, "How did you gather that?"

"Somebody said something about a Chinese tattoo. Regina has one."

"Well, Miss Persons, a lot of people have Chinese tattoos," Brennan said softly.

"Not on their wrist. Regina's was on her wrist. It meant tranquility. It was to remind her of Izzy, because that what she brought. Look, you have to find Izzy. I'm afraid someone took her!"

"Miss Persons, you're gonna have to start from the beginning. Please, tell us everything you remember," Booth pulled out his note pad and pencil and pulled Penny to the side.

Brennan stepped over to the captain, "Congratulations, now we have a missing child on our hands."

"You'll move the body when we reach San Juan in three days."

"You better hope no one else dies before then." Brennan gave him a last look before turning on her heel and stalking out of the cabin, needing fresh air to calm her nerves. She didn't want Booth to see but she was frightened. They were on a ship with a murderer and no escape. She gazed down into the vast ocean below her…an endless darkness that she could already feel swallowing her whole without mercy. She shivered and turned away from the railing. A sign for the galley caught her attention. She realized she hadn't eaten anything since the night before and her stomach was aching from lack of food. With a little effort she straightened and headed in the direction of breakfast.

(--)

Tell me what you think…I appreciate all reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I only own the characters not normally seen on the show…

Previously: Booth called Brennan down to the cruise ship on which he was vacationing because a body was discovered there…

(--)

Angela Montenegro walked brightly into the Jeffersonian Museum. The bracelets on her wrist were jingling merrily and she was in high spirits. She stretched her arms as she walked toward Brennan's office. A crick in her shoulder had been bothering her since she'd gotten up. It had been the only bad thing that had happened this morning.

As she approached the door to her friend's office, she noted some irregularities. First, all the lights in Bren's office were off and the door closed. Second, Brennan was not on the exam platform nor in her office, so Angela concluded that she must be out in the field, except Booth was not in DC, he was on vacation in the Caribbean. Brennan rarely went out in the field without him, so where the hell was Brennan?

Panic began to rise in Angela's chest when she heard the security doors behind her open. She turned around to see a Sully step inside the lab. He looked tired. Alarms went off in Angela's head. She moved to him at lightning speed.

"Where's Brennan?" Angela asked, gripping Sully's arm tighter than she had intended.

"I don't know," Sully replied.

"What do you mean you 'don't know'?"

"Booth called early this morning. She didn't say anything, she just kind of packed her bags and left."

"Booth? She's with Booth?" Angela visibly deflated. She'd been so worried Brennan had been kidnapped again, but it was okay, she was with Booth. An idea piqued Angela's brain. She was with Booth…in the Caribbean…alone…oh, this was going to get really messy, really quick.

The artist excused herself from her obligatory conversation with Sully and scurried to her office. She knew Brennan wouldn't be able to receive her call but she dialed the cell number anyway. As assumed, Brennan's phone went straight to voice mail. Angela told her to call the second she was near a phone.

Hanging up, Angela knew the call had been pointless; Brennan wouldn't even get the message until she was within range of a cell tower, but Ange felt the call was necessary anyway. She smiled wickedly as thoughts floated through her head of what Booth and Brennan were doing together. Most of them revolved around skimpy bathing suits, margaritas and passionate sex.

"You look happy," Jack Hodgins said, leaning against the frame of her door. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was watching her.

She smiled wider and he entered.

"Guess where Brennan is right now?"

"Where?"

"The Princess Grace, with our favorite Special Agent Booth," Angela explained with a grin.

"Wait, she's on the ship with Booth?"

"Yeah, he called early this morning. Apparently she packed her bags and left with barely a word to Sully," Angela continued.

"Poor, Sully, the guy's fighting a losing battle," Jack said sadly. He felt bad for the man. For so long, he himself had tried to win Angela's affections and failed miserably and until as of late, he never had any hope that Ange would return his adoration.

"I feel bad for him too," Angela conceded, "but you can't fight fate. Those two are meant to be together."

"Weren't you the one encouraging her to date Sully in the first place?" Hodgins asked.

"Well, yeah, but that was because I don't want her to become some crazy cat lady while she's denying her feelings for Booth. She needed somebody to open her up--and that sounded dirty--but you know what I mean. Ever since the whole Booth and Cam fiasco, Brennan's been kind of anti-date."

"Are you kidding? She's pretty much the poster-child for non-dating."

"Exactly, which was why I wanted her to find someone whom she could relax with, who she liked, and could feel comfortable with, ya know, before she and Booth got it on."

"Isn't that like morally wrong?"

"Maybe…" Angela did feel bad about getting Brennan to lead Sully on, even though Brennan didn't actually know she was doing it, but Angela did, and the artist felt bad. Still, she maintained that Brennan was supposed to be with Booth.

"I wonder how it's going down there," Hodgins mused, "somehow I don't think it's going to be all skimpy bathing suits and passionate sex."

"Crush my hopes why don't you," Angela said, pouting.

"Come on, Ange, they'll be at each other's throats in about ten minutes," Hodgins said. The pair grimaced at each other, knowing that he was right.

"Oy vey," Angela said, slapping her hand over her face.

"Oh, yeah…"

(--)

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking," Captain Antoine began over the loud speaker. Booth stood beside him, watching as the captain explained over the PA system about Izzy's disappearance. He didn't mention anything about the body or the murder only that the small girl was missing.

The captain hung the receiver back on the hook and turned to Booth. He gave the man a once over before side-stepping him and moving to the other side of the cabin. Booth followed him with his eyes until the captain began a conversation with one of his crew.

Hernandez had taken several of his security staff to search the ship's holds below deck, while the employees kept an eye out for any child unattended. That left Booth alone with the two police officers. The pair looked uncomfortable in the corner of the cabin. Feeling sympathy toward them, Booth stepped over to the officers and smiled.

"Pierce, right?"

"Yeah, we spoke on the phone," Mike replied shaking Booth's outstretched hand, "you were right about Dr. Brennan."

"Yeah, she's a live wire," Booth said smiling. He noticed that Keyshaw was staring at him in a permanent frown. He turned to her with his eyebrows raised. She was analyzing him. He could tell; that was how Bones had looked when they first met. She was debating whether she could trust him or not.

"What can we do to help?" Pierce asked.

"Well, I figured we should probably start questioning the staff about Regina Daly. Ya know, background, character witnesses, anything like that," Booth suggested.

"Okay," Pierce replied. He and Keyshaw stepped out of the cabin and headed toward the front of the ship. Meanwhile, Booth took a turn in the opposite direction and headed toward the rear of the ship, where the main eating area was.

He stepped into the main dining hall. It may have been a scene from a movie. There he was standing at the top of the staircase, his eyes scanning the hundred or so people who had congregated in the large room. He spotted her after a moment, sitting in among other women, minding her own business. She was munching on a variety of foods. At the moment, she was biting into a piece of melon.

He watched her and a faint smile crossed his lips. She was truly beautiful when she thought no one was watching. He thought maybe it was because she had no inhibitions, no walls to keep people from watching her. He imagined that she sang in the shower and danced when she was listening to music, like she had with him. He imagined that she was a normal woman when she was alone. She was afraid like a normal person she cried, laughed and loved like everyone else.

A waiter in a red vest with a black satin lining walked up to Booth and paused beside him. The man was shorter than Booth. His short-cropped hair was dark and his skin was an olive tan. His smile was warm and his eyes were dark, searching. Someone could get lost in those eyes if they stared long enough. Booth noticed the man next to him and turned.

"Can I help you sir? Looking for someone?" the waiter asked.

"Actually, I found her, but thanks," Booth replied. The waiter nodded to him and went to attend to a table nearby while Booth stepped off the stairs and headed toward the table at which Brennan had stowed herself away.

Booth moved gracefully through the aisles of tables that decorated the wide dining room. He kept his eyes on Brennan the entire time, but she had yet to notice him. He paused briefly to take a piece of toast off a passing waiter's tray. Biting into it as he approached, Booth was in mid chew when he sat down beside his partner. She gave him a sideways look before addressing him.

"Booth," she said coolly.

"Hey Bones," Booth replied, trying to swallow his toast. Meanwhile, he noticed that the ladies Brennan had been sitting with were staring at him. Some of them were already drooling, but a few were just silent, and one, the woman with the white hair sitting on the opposite side of Brennan, was smiling, showing a set of brilliant pearly whites.

"And who are you?" the woman with the white hair asked.

"Seeley Booth," he replied, shaking hands across Brennan.

"Tabitha Martin," the woman introduced herself.

"Temperance was trying to explain how it is she got here; we don't remember seeing her at the start of this cruise," one of the other women inferred.

"Yes, she said she was with you," a tall, thin woman with a long neck, exaggerated by her strict posture, said, her nose raised high into the air.

"Oh, she did, huh?" Booth looked at Temperance, smiling. She was purposely looking in the opposite direction.

"Yes, she told us you two were together, in manner of speaking," said a third woman. This one was shorter, stockier, with a pleasant smile, and gossiping twinkle in her eye.

"Well, well, well, _bunny_," she cringed at the endearment, "I thought we weren't going to tell anyone. It's true, engaged to be engaged, she likes to call it." Booth threw his charm smile at the women and they swooned around him. Every one except Ms. Martin, who stared at the pair with a knowing gaze; Booth made a mental note to watch out for her. She seemed like the elder version of Angela.

"I hate to break up this circle, ladies, but I must steal my dearest Temperance away from you," Booth said standing. He took Temperance by the arm and led her away, glancing one final time at Tabitha Martin.

Once they had ascended the stairs and were out in the open air again, Booth removed his hand from the small of Brennan's back. With that simple movement, the gap between them became a canyon as it had been that morning. Brennan frowned into the morning light, remembering that she had given Parker her sunglasses earlier. Booth tried to keep up with her, but she was maneuvering through the passengers with surprising ease.

As she reached the basketball court at the peak of the ship's outer deck, she realized she had taken a wrong turn in her attempt to flee Booth's intense gaze. She glanced around her, but all sides were blocked by chairs and a few stray people. The only way out was back the way she came, back to Booth, who had finally caught up with her.

"Jesus Bones, what was that about?" Booth asked.

"Look it was a story, I didn't expect you to be there," Brennan explained shortly.

"You were running away because of that?" he threw his thumb back in the direction of the dining room.

"I wasn't running!" Brennan defended.

"It sure looked like you were running," Booth countered.

"Just leave me alone!" Brennan snapped.

"You know what? Fine, we have to go question the victim's fellow employees," Booth replied, turning on his heel, knowing Brennan would eventually follow him. She was stubborn, but he could be too. And besides, it was a ship, she wasn't going anywhere.

Brennan watched as Booth walked away. She saw his tall figure disappear down the stairs she had ascended without realizing it. She huffed, frustrated. This was stupid, she was losing her cool. That couldn't happen if she and Booth were going to find this missing kid and the murderer. She ran her fingers through her dark hair and blinked a few times. She wanted to desperately to yell at Booth, to tell him exactly what she was upset about, but this was neither the time nor the place. With a determined look on her face, she followed the path the Booth had cut through the growing crowds of passengers. She would talk to him that evening.

(--)

R&R. Chapter Three coming soon. Sorry about the long wait for this chapter but I got caught up with school, my next couple of weeks are going to be just as busy, so sorry in advance for any delays. Thanks for all the reviews! You guys are great!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I only own the characters not seen on the show…

Previously: Booth and Brennan are trying to find both a missing child and a murderer but its difficult when they're fighting…

A/N: This chapter should have more to do with the case; I realize that the last chapter was kind of short so I tried to put a lot in this one…R&R…

(--)

Booth gave the dancer a cursory look. Her two-inch heels made her almost as tall as him. She was no longer wearing the vibrant costume that she had been when he first knocked on the dressing room door. Now she was wearing a sheer silk bathrobe that barely reached her thighs. Her hair fell in tight curls around her shoulders. She was obviously trying to tempt him. He pretended not to notice.

He could feel Brennan's eyes boring into the back of his skull. He pretended not to notice that either. He knew she was glaring at him but for what he was completely clueless. Sure, he knew she was probably peeved about having to get on a plane at five thirty in the morning, but he didn't think she'd be this mad. He had a sinking feeling it was something else, something to do with Sully.

"Ms. Costello-," Booth began.

"Eve," the woman said, a slinky smile on her face. Booth grinned politely.

"Ms. Costello," he continued, "you said you've been working with Regina Daly since she started here. How long ago was that?"

"Oh, I don't know, Izzy was just a baby, I guess about seven or eight years ago," Eve replied. Booth scratched her answer down on his pad.

"What can you tell me about Ms. Daly?" Booth asked.

"She was sweet, a little too sweet, if you ask me." Eve clicked her tongue as if disapproving the dead girl. Brennan immediately disliked her. If working with corpses had taught her nothing else, it was to respect the dead. They deserved more respect than the living anyway.

"What do you mean?" Booth inquired.

Eve leaned in, her voice dropping so low that Booth had to lean slightly to make out what she saying, "She was an entertainer, sure, we all are, but she liked to entertain after hours, if you know what I mean."

"Do tell," Booth said offering her his patented charm smile.

"Well, every trip it's a different gentleman. She picks one of the old, senile ones, you know the ones whose wives stopped giving them tail thirty years ago; they're just excited by seeing a woman in a bikini. She gives them a 'release' and they give her whatever she wants." Eve explained; she looked disgusted by Regina's actions. Honestly, Booth could care less if the girl was a prostitute, she was dead and it was his job to find out who did it.

"Thank you for your help, Ms. Costello," Booth said, closing his notepad. He was surprised, Brennan had stayed quiet the entire interview. He chanced a look at her but she seemed to be deep in thought. Her eyes were slightly glassy and she seemed to concentrating on a spot on the floor.

"Anytime," Eve replied with a sexy smile, "If you get a moment, come by and see the show, I'll be looking for you." She gave a wink and he smiled lightly. He liked having women flirt with him; it wasn't like he was getting any younger, after all, and working with Brennan could definitely emasculate a man. Okay, so maybe blaming Brennan directly for his lack of substantial relationships was unfair, he was the one turning women away, but he couldn't help it that Brennan had him completely twisted. He could barely tell which way was up anymore. Hook, line and sinker, she'd gotten him good.

Booth glanced at Brennan again. She was no longer staring at the floor. Actually, now she was staring at him. And there was a glare plastered on her face. He gave her a shaky smile before turning and heading back to the door. He was nearly there when someone grabbed his arm. He turned to find Penny Persons standing in the corner, dressed in her dance costume.

"She's not like that," Penny said. Booth knew that Penny was referring to what Eve had said, "She's not a hooker."

"Why don't you tell me exactly what she's like then, Penny, because Eve had a pretty compelling story," Booth said.

"Okay, yeah, she flirts with the old, rich guys. And maybe they take her back to their rooms, but she doesn't do it for herself. She does it for Izzy. The poor kid is nearly nine and she's only ever lived on this damn boat. She was trying to get enough money so that she and Izzy could buy a house together."

Booth finished scribbling down Penny's story and looked up, "Did she have a boyfriend this time?"

"Yeah, that's why she left me with Izzy last night."

"Do you know his name?"

"Something Courtney. I don't remember. We didn't really talk about it."

"Thanks Penny," Booth said after writing down the name.

Penny nodded. Booth and Brennan turned toward the door and exited the dressing room. Brennan still remained quiet. Booth was getting a little annoyed now. He could take it when she yelled at him, but this was ridiculous. How were they supposed to solve a case if she wasn't talking to him?

He placed a hand on her arm, she stopped and looked at him, her eyes large in surprise, "What?"

"You know, the silent treatment isn't going to help find the murderer," Booth's tone was slightly harsher than he meant it to be.

"Silent treatment?" Brennan frowned, and then she rolled her eyes in realization, "For your information, I wasn't giving you the 'silent treatment', I was thinking about Regina's body. I need to inspect it further."

"Oh," Booth was ashamed. Brennan had been concentrating on the case while he was the one who had been overcome by their ongoing fight. And yet he had reprimanded her.

"We should check the passenger manifest for this 'Courtney' person."

"I agree," Booth replied; he headed in the direction of Vincent Hernandez's office in the Security Center on the third floor.

(--)

"This is our official log for this trip," Hernandez said, motioning his hand to the computer screen with a list of names, in alphabetical order by surname. Booth handed the operator his notepad with the name on it. The man typed it into the search box. After a moment the computer produced a name and room number.

Courtney, Thierry; Rm. 1345

"Room 1345, that's on the fourth floor," Hernandez said. Booth thanked him for his assistance and lead Brennan out of the room. The pair headed to the elevator when they met Pierce and Keyshaw.

"Agent Booth, we talked to some of the employees. They said that Daly was sleeping with someone on the ship," Pierce explained.

"So we heard," Brennan replied coolly.

"Yeah, a Thierry Courtney. We were headed to his room now," Booth said. Pierce frowned and glanced at Keyshaw. She was frowning too.

"That's not what we heard," Keyshaw said.

"I thought you heard she was sleeping with someone?" Brennan inquired.

"Yeah, Gavin Reynolds, he's the First Mate," Keyshaw explained.

"What? She was sleeping with the First Mate, too?" Booth shared a surprised look with Brennan.

"Apparently it was pretty serious. He was going to ask her to marry him."

"I wonder if he knew about her extracurricular relationships." The four looked at each other, "You two go check out Courtney, we'll go talk to Reynolds."

Pierce nodded, taking the page of Booth's notebook with Courtney's room number on it. He and Keyshaw stepped into the waiting elevator. Once the doors closed, Booth and Brennan turned around and headed back toward the Bridge. This case was getting more complex by the second, Brennan thought, and yet, motive now seemed obvious.

Booth was thinking the same thing: Reynolds finds out about Regina's relationships, calls her down to the Boiler Room, and then in the midst of the argument, violently shoves her into the furnace, and fights to keep the door closed while she struggles to get out. Booth grinned sardonically. Somehow, that didn't seem right.

The pair walked toward the bridge in silence. They were both in thinking mode, which was nice because that meant they weren't fighting. Booth couldn't help but give a sideways glance to Bones. Her forehead was creased, confirming his theory that she was deep in thought. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his forehead.

This case was testing his nerves. He and Brennan had been on iffy terms for a while now, but this was unbelievable. He felt guilty. He hadn't been nice about the whole Sully issue and he knew that. He felt guilty for dragging Brennan away from him at four in the morning and he felt guilty for leaving Parker to have a vacation with the daycare center.

They reached the bridge after a short ride on the elevator. Booth smiled as he remembered his last conversation with Brennan in an elevator. He had been humming and swaying to the music. Now, he noted with a grin, he sensed a slight switch in her hips to the faint sounds of piano keys.

Gavin Reynolds was speaking to the captain when they entered. He didn't look up, even after Booth cleared his throat. The man was young, maybe twenty-five at best guess. He was tall, with a slight frame and a thin face. His eyes were gentle and his smile seemed to be a constant on his features.

"Mr. Reynolds," Booth stepped forward when he parted with the captain. Reynolds looked up and smiled brightly, but his eyes were sad, shinny as if he'd been crying.

"Agent Booth," Reynolds acknowledged with a nod of his head, "Can we speak outside?" Booth and Brennan glanced at one another and followed Reynolds outside onto the deck. "I expected you would come." He leaned over the railing, glancing at the dark water so many stories below.

Booth raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

He looked back at them "Yes, I assume you heard about my relationship with Regina."

"Yes, care to explain that?" Booth inquired.

"I'm in love with her," Reynolds stated bluntly. Booth was slightly taken aback by his cavalier attitude. He chanced a look at Brennan, she was frowning. He could tell that she didn't like him. Booth understood her feeling. Reynolds was an honest man, and honest men often came off as insensitive. But the special agent felt the twinge of something else. He didn't believe he was a killer.

"Did you know she was sleeping with another man?" Brennan asked, just as bluntly as Reynolds had stated his affections.

"Yes," Reynolds replied. He seemed composed but Booth thought he caught a flicker of something in Reynolds eyes.

"And that didn't bother you?" Brennan inquired. She stared him down, her hands on her hips, but it didn't seem to phase him at all. He remained stoic, and yet sad.

"Of course it bothered me, Dr. Brennan; I was in love with her. I wanted to marry her. I hated that she was sleeping around with different guests, but no matter what I said she would always tell me that it was for Izzy; I didn't want to argue with her," Reynolds explained.

"Why not?" Brennan asked, honestly. Booth glanced at her and smiled lightly, "If she's doing something that you didn't approve of then why weren't you fighting her on it?"

Reynolds laughed, "You haven't been in love, have you, Dr. Brennan?" Silence, "I loved her, I didn't want to loose her, so I just kept my mouth shut. I was comforted by the fact that she loved me."

"I don't understand; if you love her you--," Booth pulled her arm gently; Brennan stopped and looked at him, frowning slightly.

"Mr. Reynolds, where were you last night?" Booth asked. He was getting down to business.

"I was here, on the bridge. You can check if you'd like," Reynolds turned on his heel and started walking to the door, "Here," he said pointing to the security pad, "everyone must swipe their security card to get in or out. The computer registers what times you came and went. It's so the captain can keep adequate bookings of shifts and times," Reynolds explained, holding out his card.

"And we can check this at the security office?" Booth confirmed. Reynolds nodded. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Reynolds. We'll keep in contact."

"I hope so Agent Booth," Reynolds said. Booth nodded and stepped out of the bridge. Brennan headed after him but Reynolds grabbed her wrist. She turned ready to flip him over her shoulder, but the look on his face froze her.

"Please find out who did this," his voice was shaky, "please." Brennan nodded slowly, her eyes large, slightly frightened. After a moment, Reynolds let her go; keeping her eyes on him, she left the room.

(--)

A/N: I'm so sorry about how long it has taken to get this chapter up. The past few months I've been swamped with school and my shows. It's pretty much been a nightmare. Not to mention the fact that I've been battling writer's block for months. I have to finish this before I can even begin something else though, so I've decided to complete this. So yay! Now I just have to fight my block and get this written!!!!!!! I hope to update more frequently than once every four months but you know, senior year and everything! I'll try…


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I only own the plot bunnies and characters not normally seen on the show…

Previously: Booth and Bones learn that their victim may not be as innocent as she seemed…

A/N: See the end...

(--)

The silence in the elevator was getting oppressive. Booth glanced sideways at his partner. Her gaze was focused forward, reflecting off the bright copper paneling of the inside of the elevator's doors.

He shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched her via reflection. He hummed quietly as they rode. Suddenly, her arm darted out and pressed a button on the wall panel. The elevator shuttered dangerously before halting. Booth, gripping the wall for balance, looked at his partner, wondering if she'd lost her mind completely.

"What the hell, Bones?" he asked. She was staring at him, a frown imbued on her face, her eyes angry.

"Why do you hate Sully?" She asked. He raised his eyebrows at her in surprise. She'd slammed on the emergency stop for this? He didn't have the patience to deal with her insanity. He was on a cruise ship with his and partner and a _murderer_ and he had absolutely no solid evidence as to the identity of said murderer.

"What are talking about Bones? I don't hate Sull-."

She cut him off, "Yes, you do."

"No, I don't; he's my friend, we're pals," Booth replied, hoping that she couldn't see that he was lying through his teeth. He did, after all, hate the worm of a man: a man who looked at his job as worthless, a time marker until he found something more interesting; a man who was currently sleeping with Booth's partner, whom he happened to maybe have a little more than partner-like feelings for. So yeah, he hated him.

"If you're such pals, why are you always trying to diminish my view of him?" Brennan asked.

"Bones what the hell does this have to do with the case?" Booth tried to change the subject.

Unfortunately for him, Temperance would not be swayed easily. She'd spent the last few hours being angry at Booth about something she didn't understand. And up until she'd spoken with Gavin Reynolds, she'd been content with hating Booth until this case was over. But talking with Reynolds, hearing a man tell her that he had accepted that his girlfriend was sleeping with other people just because he loved her…well, it made her realize that she didn't feel like that with Sully. Hell, she'd never felt like that with anyone.

Well, anyone but Booth. It wasn't love between them, she was sure of that, not love in the typical sense of the word, because she didn't believe in that kind of love. But it was something different, something more. And she didn't want to be angry at him anymore.

So perhaps her techniques for bringing up the subject were not exactly the most tactful but she had never sugar-coated anything.

"It has everything to do with the case, Booth; we can't work efficiently if we're fighting," Brennan replied.

"I'm not the one fighting, Bones, you're the one who's been moody all day," Booth snapped.

"Because you called me, at four o'clock and told me, and I quote, 'haul my ass out of Sully's stringy arms and get my stuff'," Brennan answered, her voice equally tense. Booth winced, so maybe his joke was not as well accepted as he'd hoped. Who could blame him? He'd been working on a few hours of sleep (his night being wasted on her anyway) and he'd been feeling particularly edgy about Sully getting to spend time with Bones when he had body to deal with.

"So maybe it wasn't the best way to ask for your help but--."

"You think?"

"Look, Bones, I didn't mean to upset you; I needed your help," Booth gave her his patented puppy-dog look; and it relieved him to see that it still seemed to have it's same effect on her as her anger ebbed away and she gave him a glare that held less than half the menace it could have.

"Fine, you're forgiven," Brennan turned away from, crossing her arms across her chest. She released the emergency stop button and the elevator shifted into gear again.

"Thank you," Booth said. But as the doors started to open he felt a surge of frustration and reached across her front pressing the button which closed the doors.

"Booth what are you doing?" Brennan asked. She pressed the button to open the doors.

"I do hate Sully," he said, closing the doors once more.

"What?" Brennan turned to him.

"I hate Sully," Booth repeated. The doors opened again. He pressed the button, closing them.

"I heard you, but I don't understand; you just said that you didn't hate him," Brennan replied.

"I changed my mind," Booth answered.

"In the last two seconds?" Brennan questioned.

"Yes, it's my mind, I'm allowed to do that," Booth snapped.

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Booth pressed the 'Door Open' button but this time it was Brennan who pressed the opposing button, letting the door jolt closed mid-way. Booth frowned at his partner.

"Why do you hate Sully?" Brennan asked loudly.

"Why? Because he's not good enough for you, Bones," Booth replied, his voice equal in volume.

"When did you become the one to decided who is and who isn't good enough for me?" Brennan fumed.

"I don't know! I just am!" Booth replied.

"You just are?!" The door opened and she slammed her thumb against the button again.

"Yeah!"

"Nice comeback Booth," Brennan commented sarcastically, her voice was still raised.

"I got a better one for ya, Bones: do you _love_ Sully?" Booth asked.

"No," Brennan practically yelled.

Silence suddenly overtook the elevator car. The pair stared at each other from across the small space. The tension seemed to mount with every passing breath. It was only seconds but it seemed like hours that Booth was staring at Brennan, her chest rising and falling heavily, breathless from the argument.

The doors beside them opened once more, revealing a very stunned looking security staff. Brennan caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye, and she dropped her head, embarrassed. Booth saw her move and heard the clearing of a throat and suddenly wondered when it had gotten brighter in the elevator. He turned his head and realized that the elevator doors had finally opened.

He gave himself a minute to compose himself, glancing at Brennan who couldn't seem to suppress a grin. She took the lead, walking out of the elevator before her partner. He followed her, grinning silently to himself, because he knew that the tension between them had been resolved.

Maybe things would get back to normal now and they could solve this case; plus, they still had a little girl to find.

Pierce leaned over to Keyshaw and grinned at his partner, "I'm glad we don't fight like that." Keyshaw nodded swiftly in agreement before she and Pierce joined Booth and Brennan who were talking to Hernandez.

"We need to see the security logs for the bridge from last night," Booth explained to Hernandez.

"Sure," Hernandez replied before scurrying away to get the appropriate documents.

Booth turned to the two police officers standing beside him, "Did you guys talk to Courtney?"

"Yeah," Pierce replied.

"And…?" Brennan probed.

"I don't think he did it," Pierce replied, glancing at his partner.

"Why not?" Booth inquired with a frown.

"This guy was frail, Agent Booth; he had a walker," Keyshaw answered with a slightly disturbed look on her attractive face.

"Okay, ew," Booth commented.

"What, Booth? Sex is completely natural," Brennan turned to him; she'd never understood his discomfort with any and every sex-oriented conversation. He wasn't a shy man, and by her objective observations, he looked to be relatively well-endowed; she couldn't understand why he was so uneasy with conversations of a sexual nature, especially with her.

"I know it's completely natural, Bones, but I for one don't like picturing Regina Daly having sex with a guy who needs a walker," Booth replied, shivering slightly at the involuntary thoughts intruding his mind.

"Actually, Booth, there is a new study regarding the increased number of sexually active seniors citizens, generally over the age of sixty-five, in our modern population," Brennan explained. Anthropologically speaking, she'd found the reading quite interesting.

"And that is something I will never get out of my head, Bones, thanks," Booth responded just as Hernandez returned with the logs from the bridge. Booth took the large book and examined it, Brennan leaning over his shoulder. Gavin Reynolds had swiped his card at 8:51pm and had not swiped out until 12:37am.

"But that doesn't mean he couldn't have left to kill Regina, right?" Keyshaw questioned.

"She's right," Brennan said, looking at Booth skeptically, "It's not conclusive proof."

Booth turned to Hernandez who was standing beside him, "Do you have a security camera by that door?"

"'Course we do; ever since 9/11 Homeland Security has pushed everyone to get 'em; not that we didn't have before hand," Hernandez explained as one of his staff pulled up the security tapes on the computer screen in front of them. Booth, Brennan and Hernandez all leaned over the screen watching as Reynolds swiped his card and entered the bridge.

"Okay, fast forward," Booth instructed the employee. The man obliged, the picture speeding up as the minutes flew by on the small clock at the bottom of the screen. Booth knocked the operator on the shoulder as movement appeared on the screen.

The operator slowed the film down but Brennan reported that it was not Reynolds; so the camera was sped up once more. After a few more false-alarms, they finally saw Reynolds leaving the Bridge. Brennan glanced at the time stamp in the corner: 12:37a.m.

"He was telling the truth," Pierce concluded, straightening.

"He didn't kill Regina," Keyshaw agreed. Booth and Brennan glanced at one another.

"We still don't know what killed Regina," Temperance mentioned.

"I thought it was being pushed into the boiler," Hernandez asked.

"I'm not sure. I need to examine the remains more closely," Brennan announced.

"You got it, Bones," Booth bowed to her wishes, "I'll take these two and we'll make a sweep of the ship, try to find Izzy."

"Okay, I'll be downstairs," Brennan escorted herself back to the elevator, stepping inside, gave Booth a small wave as the doors closed.

(--)

Temperance Brennan was not a queasy woman. She'd been working with dead bodies for the better part of her career. She had never thrown up at the sight of remains or a cadaver, unlike several of her fellow college med-students.

But as a few maintenance workers helped her remove Regina Daly's remains from the boiler and lay them out on a steel table Booth had borrowed from the galley, Temperance felt a little nauseous.

Regina Daly was hardly recognizable as a person anymore. The flesh and bone had been charred, melted together, into a mass that looked more like a Hollywood movie prop than an actual human being.

Using her latex gloves, Temperance began her delicate examination of the body before her. The teeth were still intact as could be expected, but the eyeballs had been liquefied in the heat of the fire; also no longer apparent were the nose, tongue and ears.

Temperance was so focused on her work that the first time she heard the noise she thought she'd imagined it. So she ignored it. The second time she wasn't so sure. She looked up but she was alone in the dark boiler room. Brennan had ordered everyone out as she made notes into her handy hand-held tape recorder. But the sound which echoed off the steel walls made her wonder how alone she really was.

After hearing it a fourth time, Temperance stepped back from the remains. She definitely wasn't alone. Her guard suddenly up, Brennan stepped around the table; the sound seemed to be coming from the shadowed far corner of the room. Ready to defend herself from anything that might jump out at her, Temperance cautiously moved toward the sound.

Three large pipes, thicker than her thigh, came up from the ground and went into the wall here; creating a small half-arch with the metal side of the ship. Temperance held her breath as she stepped toward the pipes, sufficiently positive that the sound had emanated from this area.

She pulled her tiny Mag-light from the pocket of her jumpsuit; swallowing, she flicked the switch and pointed it directly at the piped arch. In her surprise she nearly dropped the flash light; but gripped it in time to keep it from clattering to the ground.

Shinning her light once more over the piping, Temperance Brennan was met with the shinning eyes of a small child. Instantly, she wished Booth were beside her. Temperance might have been able to get along well with Parker but in general children were not her forte, especially not crying children who Brennan was willing to bet had probably been subjected to seeing their own mother's remains being pulled out of a boiler, and who possibly, also witnessed said mother's murder.

"Hello," Brennan said in her calmest voice possible. The little girl in front of her sniffed loudly, "My name is Temperance; what's yours?"

After a moment, the little girl's eyes met Tempe's; "Mommy, says not to talk to strangers."

"Well, you're mommy is right; but I'm not a stranger; I'm a doctor," Brennan explained. She knew it was pathetic; if the child was at all smart she would not fall for that. It was certainly a step up from 'hey, I have a puppy in my non-descript white van', but not by much.

"Can you help my mommy?" the little girl asked.

Temperance hesitated. Booth would have known exactly what to say to the traumatized little girl when she asked if Brennan could save her mommy. But Booth wasn't there to help Temperance out of this uncomfortable position; she was going to have to fend for herself.

"To be honest," Tempe began, but suddenly switched gears, "I'm going to try."

"How?"

"I'm going to try to find the person who hurt her," Temperance replied sincerely. The girl seemed to debate the honesty of this for a minute before she seemed to make a decision.

"My name is Izzy," she said.

"Hello, Izzy," Temperance smiled; the little responded with a half-smile. "Say, are you hungry?"

The little girl nodded.

"How 'bout you come out of there and we'll get you some food?" Tempe suggested.

Izzy shook her head vehemently, "Mommy said to stay here not matter what!"

"Is that why you haven't come out all day?" Temperance asked the rhetorical question but the little girl nodded; "Well, I'll tell you what: I think you're mom only wanted you to stay here until it was safe. But it's safe now, I won't hurt you."

Temperance held her arms out. Izzy seemed to debate taking her offer; Brennan was impressed by the amount of consideration this child gave to every action before she made a decision. Tempe most often equated thoughtlessness and free-spirits with children. Izzy reminded Temperance of herself.

After another tense moment, Izzy slipped herself out from under the piping and into Brennan's open arms. Temperance straightened as the little girl strung her arms tightly around the doctor's neck and buried her face in Tempe's shoulder. Brennan held Izzy closely to her chest, pressing her palm against the child's head, keeping it against the crook of her neck, as they passed the remains of Regina Daly, and walked up the stairs to the main deck.

The sunlight around them was heavy; the kind of heavy light that only appeared around two o'clock. Brennan kept Izzy close to her even as they stepped into the light. Temperance scanned the deck for Booth but the only people she saw were other passengers.

Deciding the Security office was probably her best bet for eventually finding Booth, she began in the direction. Only when she heard her name being called from behind her did she stop and turn around. It was Booth; when she turned to him, he was trotting easily waving to her, but seeming to realize that she was not alone, his strides lengthened until he was practically running at her.

"Bones," he looked at her, surprised.

"I found Izzy," Brennan answered, somewhat sheepishly.

"I see that," Booth replied, smiling at her.

(--)

A/N: Wow, I don't know how long it's been since I updated this story but I can say it's been too long. I had kind of forgotten about it, figuring it was hopeless to continue but then a few days ago I got this wonderful review from _Mishelle20_, saying she would love to read more; and the truth was, I did too. I wanted to know where this would go. So I solved the tension with a fight and I had them find the kid. Let's see where this can go, shall well….

A/N 2: P.S. Therefore, special thanks go out to _Mishelle20_ for inspiring me to continue this, just because she asked. : )


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I only own the plot bunnies (and the characters you don't recognize)…

Previously: Booth and Bones' elevator fight resolved their "issues" but they may have a whole new set of them to deal with…

(--)

"How's she doing?" Booth asked, drawing Temperance's attention away from the sleeping form of Izzy Daly. Booth stepped from the bathroom, having removed his stiff suit and traded it for a pair of well-worn jeans and a comfortable tee shirt. He glanced at the little girl lying on his bed.

Brennan gave him a shrug, she didn't really know anything about children, "She's sleeping; I think that's a good sign."

"Very good," Booth agreed. The pair stood side-by-side watching the sleeping child as her eyelids fluttered and she smiled gently in her sleep. Booth was impressed. Usually children, or anyone for that matter, who had witnessed something as traumatic as Izzy did would have far more difficulties falling asleep, himself in particular, and he was pretty sure the woman at his side.

Looking back at the child, Booth noticed the blaring digital clock beside her head. It was nearly three o'clock. He swore quietly and pulled his brown leather jacket off the back of the nearby chair. Brennan frowned at him, following him with her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked as Booth grabbed the handle of the door.

"I have to go get Parker, he's been at the stupid Discovery place all day," Booth answered, angry at himself for getting so caught up in the case.

"Discovery Land," Brennan corrected out of habit. Booth tossed her a 'give me a break, Bones' look before pulling the door open and walking into the hall.

Suddenly, Temperance panicked. She couldn't stay with Izzy; she was absolutely no good with children. She didn't like them, for one; and besides, she could barely have coherent conversations with adults, how was she supposed to help a traumatized nine year- old? She practically threw herself out the door after Booth, calling his name.

He turned back to her sharply, "What's wrong Bones?"

"You can't leave me here with her," Temperance said.

Booth suppressed a smile, "Look, Bones, I'll only be gone for a few minutes; I have to go get Parker," he explained.

"But Booth, I don't know what to do with a kid," Brennan said this as if Booth thought otherwise.

"Bones, she's asleep. It's not going to be too difficult," Booth replied, grinning at the utter panic in her eyes.

"But what if she wakes up?!" Temperance grabbed a hold of his forearm in a vice-grip and Booth could feel her nails digging into his skin through his jacket sleeve. He made a mental observation that he would probably have bruises in the morning but let it slip away as he tried to comfort his frightened partner.

"If she wakes up, calm her down, get her some water, rub her back, and I don't know, sing or something; chances are she won't wake up before I get back," Booth said, pulling Brennan's hand from his arm and placing both of his own hands gently on her upper arms and guiding her back to his stateroom.

"Booth I don't think I--." He cut her off.

"You'll be fine. I'll be right back," Booth soothed. His voice tickled the side of her face and she shivered involuntarily, relieved when she realized he was no longer holding onto her, and therefore had not felt her body's reaction to his proximity.

She sighed deeply looking back at Izzy. The little girl still seemed quite asleep so Brennan took the moments of silence to relax a little. They had found Izzy: that had been their main focus after all. Booth seemed to have pretty good idea on Regina's personality. Granted, whoever killed her was still onboard and thus a danger to all of them, including her and Booth.

Feeling something akin to unease settle in the pit of her stomach, Brennan flipped the lock on the stateroom door but left the chain undone only because Booth would be back soon. She settled herself into a chair near the window, grinning slightly to see that the other was piled high with Booth and Parker's clothing; Temperance had a sneaking suspicion that there were both clean and dirty clothes there.

The thought made her laugh; but her happiness disappeared when a noise from the bed drew her attention. Temperance glanced at the child; the little girl was jolting slightly, and Brennan saw the tears beginning to collect at the corners of her eyes. Though slightly unnerved, Temperance moved to the bed, ignoring the giddy thought in her head that it was the bed Booth slept in at night, and touched Izzy's shoulder softly.

The child thrashed out, her toe connecting rather solidly with Temperance's thigh. The doctor winced in mild discomfort before placing both hands on the girl's tiny shoulders and drawing Izzy to her chest; it was a maneuver that Booth had often used on Temperance herself, and Brennan found it usually calmed her down. At first she thought that it wouldn't work on Izzy, but after a moment the little girl's body jolts softened into loud sobbing.

Brennan cooed into Izzy's ear, replicating Angela's usually soothing method, and squeezed her ever tighter. She ran her hand over Izzy's hair and whispered that everything was going to be okay. Temperance was surprised to feel Izzy's small arms wrap around her middle and hug her back.

Brennan closed her eyes, rubbing one of her hands down Izzy's back, just had Booth had suggested. She could hear Izzy's cries tapering off and couldn't suppress a smile: maybe she wasn't as bad with children as she thought. Booth would be proud.

(--)

"And then we played superheroes, and Melissa was Supergirl," Parker explained excitedly chatting to his father. Booth tried to focus on his son's stories of the day while he led the little boy through the maze of corridors.

"And she said I should be Batman or something, but I told her I didn't want to and she asked me who I was going to be and I said you, Dad," Parker looked up at Booth. The FBI Agent froze and smiled down at his son.

"Cause you're the greatest superhero I know," Parker clarified. Booth thought he might start crying right there in the middle of the hallway. Instead, he pulled Parker up onto his hip and gave his son a wide smile.

"Thanks bud," he said sincerely.

"It's true, Dad," Parker added, squeezing his father tightly around the neck. Booth felt guilty again that he'd left Parker alone the entire day while they were supposed to be having their vacation.

"I'm sorry I couldn't hang out with you today, pal," Booth said as he carried Parker toward their stateroom where he knew Brennan was probably desperately waiting for him to return.

He inhaled sharply however, when he unlocked the door and realized that Temperance wasn't waiting for him. In fact she didn't seem to even care whether he returned at all or not. He smiled as he watched Bones snoring softly with Izzy situated snuggly against her shoulder.

Parker wriggled to be let down. When he was free of his father's grasp, the little boy walked over to the bed. Booth was suddenly afraid that Parker would try to wake the girls, but to his surprise (and maybe a little bit to his pride) Parker merely seemed to inspect the little girl lying against Bones.

"Who's that?" Parker asked softly, pointing.

"That's Izzy; she's going to be hanging out with us for a little while," Booth explained. In truth, Brennan seemed to be the only one who Izzy trusted. They had to pry the little girl away from Temperance when it came time for the doctor to examine her for injuries. Booth couldn't help but smile at the thought that the woman who neither wanted nor understood children was the one who this girl seemed so attached to.

"Okay," Parker seemed satisfied by his father's explanation; but instead of turning his attention to other, more important things, like continuing his relying of the days events, he climbed up onto the bed and snuggled against Brennan's other side. Booth watched, slack-jawed, as Temperance shifted in her sleep, letting her free arm fall across Parker's shoulders.

_I've wanted to do that for two years…and look at him, five minutes and the kid's already six miles ahead of where I'm standing_, Booth thought; then reminded himself that he was jealous of a six year-old.

"Parker, c'mon bud; let them sleep," Booth waved for his son to get off the bed but Parker didn't move. Booth raised an eyebrow and closed the distance between them: Parker was already snoring softly, eyes shut tight. _It's been a long day for everybody_, Booth thought, contemplating whether he should join them.

_It can't hurt; besides it's not like I got a lot of sleep last night_, Booth's mind attempted to make up excuses even as he climbed onto the bed next to his son and sleeping partner. He leaned up against the headboard and watched Brennan's eyelids flutter softly in her slumber. He resisted the urge to brush his fingertips against her cheek, reminding himself that he'd probably get kicked in the groin later when she found out he'd slept next to her.

Settling down against the pillow, Booth curled one of his arms under his head and turned toward her, lying on his side. He felt his own eyes drifting shut and he knew that his dreams would be filled with thoughts of Bones.

(--)

Angela couldn't concentrate: not only had Brennan been gone an entire day without contact, but Sully hadn't stopped pacing in front of her door the whole afternoon. Finally, the artist had enough. She tossed her sketch pad onto her desk and flounced into the hallway.

"I'm going to take a leap of faith and say you're thinking about something," Ange tossed at the pacing agent as she pulled the glass door open and leaned against it.

Sully looked up, "Angela, I was just coming to see you."

"Yeah sure," Angela waved him into her office, hoping that whatever was bothering the man would be easily resolved and she could get back to working out her next art show.

Ange indicated the comfortable couch in the corner and Sully forced himself to sit down. He still seemed edgy, however, and Angela could see he didn't really want to be there talking to her. She decided that he was Bren's boyfriend (much to the artist chagrin) and so Angela would offer any help she could.

"So what's the trouble, Sully?" Angela asked after a moment, tucking her feet under her as she sat down next to him.

"No trouble," Sully lied. Angela was mildly insulted: how could he think she had that few skills in reading people? Then she realized that he was used to hanging around Brennan, and no offense to her best friend, but if you held a giant sign in front of Temperance's face, she still wouldn't see what was right in front of her, namely, Booth, for example.

And Angela had a sneaking suspicion that Booth was the reason Sully was sitting in the artist's office at the moment, wringing his hands together in an effort to keep himself seated on her couch.

"I just don't see why she had to run off this morning!" Sully got his feet sharply, apparently unable to contain himself anymore.

"There was a case," Angela answered matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but I mean, she didn't even fight him; he said jump and she--."

"Asked how high; yeah, I know."

"But why? I mean she doesn't ever take orders from anyone; he's the only one she'll ever leave in the middle of a conversation for."

"Oh, you can bet he got a good ass-kicking when she got down there," Angela smiled at the thought, though she'd have preferred it if her friend jumped the FB-Eye Candy in another manner.

"It's not just today, though; she'll run off with him whenever he calls," Sully continued.

"Sully, you know as much as I do that she's his best friend. They're close, that's all."

"But how close is 'close'?" Sully asked and Angela didn't have a good answer; well, she did, but she was pretty sure Sully wouldn't like to hear it, even though she had a feeling he already knew.

By her silence, Sully knew Angela was thinking the same thing he had been for some time; and standing in the artist's office, he finally voiced it, "She loves him…doesn't she?"

"I don't know, Sully, and I don't think she does either," Angela replied honestly, sighing softly.

"You know, I always kind of knew I was just a place-holder," Sully commented, feeling the weight of his words, he sank back down to Angela's couch.

"Oh, Sully, no; I know that she cares about you." Off his dubious look, Angela quickly added, "She does, trust me, it's just…"

"She loves him," Sully finished.

"Yeah," Angela nodded. She honestly did feel bad for Sully; he was a nice guy and although he wasn't the drop-dead sexy that Booth was he was attractive; he'd opened Brennan's eyes up to entirely knew view of the world, and Angela couldn't be more thankful.

Sure, Booth had made amazing strides in getting Brennan to act more like a human being and less like a brain who happened to have a superfluous body attached. But Sully had helped to remind her (and Booth too) that, although their jobs were of the utmost importance, they weren't expected to die still solving murders.

Brennan might not have embraced Sully's vision of life, but at least she'd gotten a chance to observe it, anthropologically speaking.

Still, now, with both Booth and Brennan tucked less-than-safely away on a cruise ship, Angela wondered how much Brennan 'didn't know'; a little tingle in the pit of stomach told her that maybe things were not, as Hodgins had said, going to be all skimpy bikinis and margaritas, especially now that Sully knew 'The Secret'.

Brennan could be so clueless sometimes.

(--)

A sharp knocking at the door caused the last remnants of Booth's dream to fade into oblivion. He muttered something under his breath as he tried to drift back to sleep but the knocking increased in persistence.

Groaning loudly, Booth opened his eyes. Both kids were still asleep but Brennan, Booth noticed, was starting to wake as the sound of the banging against the door continued. Afraid of upsetting his partner, Booth got to his feet and crossed the small room to the door. He unlocked it and pulled it open.

Standing outside was a woman who looked strangely familiar. Booth frowned as she gave him an all-too familiar smile and he realized where he recognized her from.

"Tabitha Martin," the elderly woman said, extending her hand to him. Booth shook it; feeling slightly cornered by her appearance at his door, and couldn't help but once again be reminded of Angela.

"Ms. Martin," Booth tried to remember his manners, "What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping that you and your lovely fiancée would join me for dinner," Tabitha asked sweetly; she attempted to look around the door, but Booth pulled it closer to his side, effectively blocking her view of the three sleeping occupants of his bed.

"I don't know, Ms. Martin, we're kind of wiped; I think we'll probably just stay here to--." The door was pulled away from him with a bit of force and Booth stumbled slightly, as a very alert Temperance greeted Tabitha.

"Hello, Tabitha," Brennan said, extending her hand to the elderly woman. Tabitha shook it happily as she looked between the obviously bed-wriggled pair with an itching smile on her face.

"I was just asking you fiancé here if you both would accompany me to dinner this evening," Tabitha explained. Brennan felt Booth's eyes shift toward her but she ignored it.

"That would be wonderful," Brennan replied, giving Tabitha a warm smile, "but we'd have to bring the kids."

"Kids?!" Tabitha couldn't hide her shock.

"My son," Booth clarified.

"And my niece," Temperance added.

"Of course, they can play with my grand kids," Tabitha replied nonchalantly.

"Then we'd love to," Brennan continued.

"Its semi-formal, darlings," Tabitha added, her eyes going to Booth, as if the man didn't own a suit.

But it was Temperance who looked suddenly unnerved, "I didn't bring anything fancy."

Tabitha gave her a sweet smile, "Don't worry, sweetheart; you look about the same size as my daughter. Come to my room at 6:30 and we'll get you something to wear. I'm sure you're fiancé will have no problem bringing the children down to dinner."

Booth shook his head, noting how often she said the word 'fiancé' and wondered if she knew that they were not, as he had put it, engaged to be engaged. But as the woman disappeared, calling out her suite number as she went, Booth realized that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Especially if Tabitha was as much like Angela as he believed.

"So we're going to dinner?" Booth asked rhetorically as he and Temperance turned back into the room.

"I guess so," Brennan shrugged. The two children were still sleeping on the bed as Temperance got into the shower, and Booth had to force himself to focus on his son instead of his partner.

The night was going to be interesting.

(--)

A/N: First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you guys are still interested in this fic. And special cheer to BonesDBChippie for the inspiration on Angela's thoughts about Sully. I hope you guys are liking. People having been asking for more Parker-fluff, and this is just the first step! Lol. Reviews feed my soul and my muse!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I only own the plot bunnies (and the characters you don't recognize)…I also don't own the song: "Dirty Laundry" by Bitter:Sweet (but you really should listen to it while you read. It adds to the effect. You can find it on YouTube).

Previously: _The night was going to be interesting. _

(--)

He knew she was a beautiful woman. He'd always known, long before she had. And he'd seen her in elegant outfits before. His mind flashed to the previous year and his pathetic half-compliment of "nice…no, better than nice…"

_God, could I have been anymore of a dumbass_? He mentally chastised himself just as he saw Dr. Temperance Brennan, world-renowned forensic anthropologist and best-selling author, step into his line of sight in a silky black, floor length dress. And by this point, all rational thought left the mind of one Seeley Booth, Special Agent for the FBI.

Her hair was curled softly and pulled partially up, accentuating her pale face, and dark eyes. The dress was sufficiently low-cut that Booth would not have partner-appropriate dreams for the next six months, but not so much that she looked like she was asking for it. She wore sparkly earrings and a delicately twisted silver necklace complementing the glittered edging of dress.

In essence she looked classy. Which was exactly the word Booth would generally use to describe his partner; at least the word he used when he was pretending he was respectful and didn't want to kiss her hard against the wall of her office, or on one of the steel exam tables, or his in apartment, or in her apartment, or…_Okay, Seel, that's enough; you're gonna end up taking a swan dive off the deck if you keep thinking about her like that._

After a moment, Booth realized Temperance was staring at him, expectantly. He blinked and shook his head, clearing his thoughts (and closing his mouth). He stepped toward Brennan and extended the crook of his arm to her. She gave the bent elbow and then its owner a raised eyebrow. To which he responded with a grin and a shrug of said elbow.

Brennan couldn't contain her faint smile as she slipped her arm through Booth's. Sometimes his alpha-male tendencies were actually endearing. She waited for a moment as he waved Parker and Izzy back to his side. Parker latched onto his father's free hand, the little boy's other hand closed around Izzy's (per his father's explicit instructions).

As the four entered the Grand Ballroom, Temperance couldn't stifle her gasp of awe. Glancing at Booth told her that he was pretty impressed as well. She suddenly felt small and out of place in her simple black dress. She hugged herself closer to Booth's side and busied herself with the thought that Booth wasn't wearing one of his ties. _So much for his socio-economic rage release_, she thought.

A hand on Booth's shoulder drew his attention away from the wide, expensive-looking room. He turned sharply to find Tabitha Martin standing behind him with a man Booth supposed was her husband and a younger woman.

"Hello, Seeley," Tabitha said, giving Booth a once over, smiling approvingly, "I see you found something to wear."

Booth glanced down at his charcoal gray button down, opened slightly at the collar and his black pants. He wasn't sure if Tabitha was being sarcastic or not so he decided to keep his mouth shut and respond with a smile.

Tabitha seemed satisfied by his non-reply and instead turned to the man next to her, "Charles, these are the people I was telling you about; Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth; this is my husband Charles." Charles Martin shook first Booth's and then Brennan's hand, giving them both warm smiles and pleasant greetings; then Tabitha turned to the young woman on her other side, "Temperance, you know, Miranda; Seeley, this is my daughter, Miranda Graeme, and her two rug-rats, Julia and John." Tabitha indicated the kids who were surrounding Miranda.

"Nice to meet you Miranda," Booth said, shaking her hand as well; "This is my son, Parker, and this is Izzy."

"Temperance's niece, apparently," Tabitha supplied. Booth sensed the disbelief in her voice and frowned. He once again had the sneaking suspicion that this woman knew more than she was letting on…just like a certain artist he knew so well.

"Tabby," Charles scolded softly, "Why don't we get seated; it looks like dinner will be served soon." He and his wife took the lead, as Booth and Brennan, along with Miranda and the children, followed behind.

"So, have you two been having a good time so far?" Miranda asked as she walked alongside Seeley and Temperance.

Booth glanced at his partner, but she wasn't looking at him as she answered, "It's been, uh, interesting."

Booth nodded enthusiastically, "Very."

"That's wonderful," Miranda smiled before scolding her son gently.

"Are you here by yourself?" Temperance asked bluntly.

"Well, my parents, obviously, but actually my husband is on business," Miranda replied.

"And he left you to handle your two children by yourself?" Brennan asked incredulously.

"Bones," Booth whispered warningly.

"What Booth? I just think it's incredibly chauvinistic for her husband to leave her by herself while he's off on business," Brennan retorted sharply to her partner before turning back to Miranda, "Do you have a job, Miranda?"

"Actually, I'm a stay-at-home--."

Temperance cut her off, "I suspected so. It's becoming increasingly apparent in modern civilization that we, as a culture, are reverting back to the previously accepted customs of the wife staying at home to raise the children, to cook, clean the house, while the husbands--."

"Oh, look we're here!" Booth exclaimed as Tabitha and Charles stopped at a wide, round table, expertly interrupting Brennan's tirade about alpha males to their hosts.

Booth helped Parker and Izzy get seated before settling down next to Temperance who was already engaged in another anthropologically mind-numbing debate with Charles Martin. Although a little embarrassed by Brennan's tendencies to be forward and thus rude, he smiled fondly at her.

He had to admit, he loved watching her argue. It was generally why he lost most of theirs: he was more fascinated by the arguer than the actual argument. He was broken from his trance by the waiter standing at his side.

"Sir, what would you like for dinner this evening?" the man asked.

"Uh…" Booth trailed off having taken the time he was supposed to be examining the menu to examine his partner.

Thankfully, the woman in question was way ahead of him, "He'll have a triple-prime hamburger, medium rare, no mayonnaise with a double side of fries and a Samuel Adams; and I'll have the chicken Alfredo with a Caesar salad and a glass of white wine." Temperance finished by glancing up at the waiter who was hastily jotting down her order.

Everyone, especially Booth was staring at her in surprise. They'd have no trouble pulling off her "engaged" lie, though he couldn't for the life of him understand why she'd even said such a thing. He made a mental note to ask her later. In response to his look of disbelief, Temperance simply shrugged.

Booth stifled a laugh when Tabitha and Charles ordered the exact same thing; an order which earned Charles a half-hearted slap against his wide chest, and a comment from Tabitha about how cheesy matching couples were.

"So, Temperance," Charles began as he sipped his straight rum, "What is it that you do?"

"I'm a forensic anthropologist as the Jeffersonian Institute in D.C," Tempe replied without hesitation.

"Really?" Charles sounded a bit surprised, "And what does that mean?"

"Well, I help identify bodies which are said to be unidentifiable," Temperance explained automatically: it wasn't the first time she'd been asked.

"So you work with corpses?" Charles questioned, wincing a little.

"Bones, mostly," Brennan corrected.

"Ah, skeleton woman. And what do you do Seeley?" Charles turned to the younger man. Booth hadn't heard his first name used this much since the last time he'd been home to see his parents.

"Uh, I work at the FBI," Booth answered vaguely.

"Really, so you're what: _Agent_ Seeley Booth?" Tabitha asked, giving Booth a sparkling and yet sincere smile.

"Special," Temperance stated softly. Suddenly, all eyes were on her; she swallowed slightly, and added, "He's actually _Special_ Agent Seeley Booth."

"Oh, my mistake," Tabitha commented, impressed, both by Booth's title and the interaction between said FBI Special Agent and the Forensic Anthropologist.

"So do you two work together?" Miranda asked, leaning forward on her on her elbows.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we're partners," Temperance said, "The Jeffersonian and the FBI are working conjointly."

"Is that how you two met? Through work?" Tabitha watched the two nod before glancing at each other, smiling before facing her again.

"Yeah, almost two years ago now," Booth supplemented, doing the math in his head.

"Very interesting," Tabitha smiled at both of them: a knowing smile; and Temperance suddenly felt like she was looking at Angela instead. Like she usually did with Ange, Tempe ducked her head away from the intensity of Tabitha's gaze.

She hoped that this woman couldn't read her like Angela could, or she'd already know that Booth was not in fact Tempe's fiancé, but the guy that she maybe, someday, hopefully soon, wanted to be more than her partner.

Unfortunately for her, Tabitha was such a mind reader; and she was having a difficult time trying to conceal her Cheshire cat smile, finally deciding that suppressing it would be pointless. She was starting to feel puckish.

(--)

With dinner finished, the band began playing fun, jazz-like music. Booth watched as Parker and Izzy ran around the dance floor with Julia and John, trying to keep an eye on them even as Temperance came back into view. She was laughing loudly, more beautiful to him than any music. He watched as she and Charles Martin spun around the dance floor, gracefully avoiding the other couples.

"She looks like she's having fun," Tabitha whispered in his ear, making him jump. All his sniper training could not have prepared him for this woman. He glanced over at her as she sat down in the chair next to him.

"Yeah, it's nice to see her relaxing," he agreed sincerely. It was nice to see Temperance forget about work for a while, even if it was while she was technically working. _Well, not technically_, he thought; she was there as a favor to him.

Technically, Cam had not agreed to let Brennan take the case just as 'technically' Booth hadn't been instructed to supervise the investigation onboard; but a quick call to Cullen, followed by an even shorter one to Bones had them both onboard, literally and figuratively.

"You should dance with her," Tabitha suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at Booth.

"She's with someone," he heard himself say and then winced. He hurriedly glanced at Tabitha but she didn't seem to have heard him. For that he was thankful: he did not want to be the one to break Temperance's secret, for whatever reason she was keeping it.

"Trust me, sweetie, my husband is perfectly content," Tabitha gave him another coy smile. And he couldn't contain a small shudder, to which she threw her head back and laughed.

"You should still ask her to dance," Tabitha continued after her laughter had subsided.

"It's complicated," Booth replied vaguely.

"Then un-complicate it, sweetie; you're never going to get her if you don't try," Tabitha remarked, getting up and tossing the last bit over her shoulder to him as she slinked onto the dance floor and stole her husband away from Temperance.

With a short laugh, Brennan laughed as Tabitha swept Charles away from her. After watching them for another moment, she noticed Booth still sitting at the now vacant table. She paused to watch him for a moment but her attention was quickly drawn away from him as a young woman took the stage, and the song changed, as she started singing the sultry lyrics to the new song.

"_I've got a bad boy and that's all right with me,  
__His dirty laundry is nothing I can't keep clean.  
__And when he needs an alibi  
__He can use me all night…"_

Brennan thought about laughing at the absurdity of the music as it began to sound more like a jazzy tango. Instead, however, she strode over to Booth, who was still sitting at the table. She extended her hand to him. He glanced at then met her eyes. He held her gaze tightly, but she saw beyond them, saw the fear and uncertainty her actions had stricken. She bit her bottom lip softly and arched an eyebrow at him, showing him her own ambiguity.

"_Oo, where's the fun in playin' it safe?"_

"Bones," he breathed, his eyes still locked with hers.

"It's just a dance, Booth," she replied.

The problem was: it wasn't just a dance.

"_Oo, I think I'd rather misbehave,  
__Your way…"_

Swallowing roughly, Booth took Temperance's hand and stood up, not breaking eye contact. He held her hand as they walked, side-by-side, toward the crowded dance floor, still staring at one another intently.

"_I'm just a bad girl, that's why we get along,  
__I won't make excuses for anything that I'm doing wrong,  
__I'll pull the trigger in a flash,  
__Watch out honey, step back…"_

Booth put his arms around Brennan's waist, effectively pulling her flush against him. He pretended to ignore the hitch in her breathing as he did so, gazing down at her, his eyes dark.

"_Oo, where's the fun in playin' it safe?  
__Oo, wouldn't you rather misbehave?  
__My way…"_

The world was gone to Temperance Brennan. The only things that mattered anymore were the music and the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach which was pressed hotly against her partner: her partner whom she wasn't dating: her partner who was the only thing she could focus on. _Get a grip, Temperance, this is Booth. Booth: the man who drives you completely insane. Booth: the man who up until several months ago didn't give you an ounce of respect or dignity. A man who--oh, friction good… _Her thoughts melted as Booth pulled her impossibly closer.

"_Oh, baby show me the money, my evil friend,  
__Let's go to Mexico, drink Margaritas in sin,  
__I'll light a candle for good luck,  
__Come on baby, lets…  
__  
__Oo, what's the fun in playin' it safe?  
__Oo, I think I'd rather misbehave  
__You're way."_

Every inch of Temperance Brennan was assaulting his senses. Every part of his body was feeling the contact. His fingertips ran up the silky fabric of her back and longed to explore elsewhere. He wondered if her skin felt as soft as the satin dress. He dipped his head toward her shoulder, pressing the side of his head softly against hers, letting his eyes flutter shut. _This is wrong. This is so wrong. She's your partner first of all. And second, she's dating Sully: your friend. This is so wrong. _He inhaled deeply. _God, she smells good._

"_Oo, what's the fun in playin' safe?  
__Oo, I think I'd rather misbehave._

_Simply mad,  
__Simply mad,  
__We're simply mad,  
__Simply mad,  
__Simply mad…"_

The chanteuse's voice trailed off as a vibrant applause echoed in the large ballroom. The spell was broken. Booth extracted his arms from around Temperance's body and she instantly missed the contact. He looked deeply into her eyes for a moment. She saw the longing there, the desire which she was pretty positive was mirrored behind her owns.

Then suddenly, Booth blinked and the intensity was gone, replaced by his charm smile and eyes she could no longer read. He gave her a quick spin and leaned back in close to.

"Now that was a dance," he said softly, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She rolled her eyes and swatted him playfully, as they laughed and stepped off the dance floor in search of water.

It could never be just a dance.

(--)

A/N: You like? Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I'm dealing with upcoming exams and a crazy work schedule so updates are going to be sporadic. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't find a good song for them to dance too. Then I heard this in a, yes ridicule me, Victoria's Secret commercial; and so help me God, I decided it was perfect for this sexy encounter. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. Review on! 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I only own the characters not normally seen on the show…(and the plot bunnies)

Previously: _It could never be just a dance._

A/N: I know, I know, this chapter has taken forever; feel free to yell at me but in my defense, I was dealing with exams and stress at home, not to mention, Christmas and my 18th birthday, so again, I am so sorry for the long wait! Enjoy!

(--)

"Dr. Brennan, I understand that you are here to assist in the investigation of the corpse, but, as you may recall, you were not a scheduled passenger onboard this vessel, so it shouldn't come as a shock to you," Captain Antoine said, glancing over his clipboard at the livid doctor.

"I didn't think that this would be a problem or I wouldn't have come at all," Brennan countered hotly.

"Dr. Brennan, let me remind you, I am the Captain here and I will not be ordered around by some scientist waving a Ph.D. in my face on _my_ ship," Antoine replied, letting his clipboard fall to his sides.

"Actually, _Captain_, I am not just 'some scientist'; I am a forensic anthropologist at the Jeffersonian Institute _and_ I have three Ph.D.s," she added for good measure.

Antoine responded with an annoyed look. He did not like it when people stepped in and started taking control of his ship. If there was one thing he did well, it was manage the vast Princess Grace. He wasn't going to let some crazy woman tell him how to do his job; ordering him to release a mutilated corpse--was she insane?

Antoine had neglected to inform the passengers onboard of the investigation, but he had a sneaking suspicion that people were starting to talk anyway. It probably had to do with the increased security Hernandez had ordered around the ship, or the fact that many of Antoine's employees had somewhat of a loose-lip syndrome.

Besides, as the insufferable Dr. Brennan had reminded him, it was only a matter of time before people started figuring it out: they were in a relatively small area, despite the enormity of the ship and all its many levels.

The sad truth was: none of them were leaving anytime soon.

Well, except for the two St. Thomas police officers who had escorted Dr. Brennan to the ship that morning: Officers Pierce and Keyshaw had taken the motorized skiff and left before it grew too dark for them to maneuver the ocean waters safely. They had offered to take Dr. Brennan with them, but she'd elected to stay onboard with the FBI Agent and the dead woman's child.

Now, however, she seemed to be regretting that decision, being that she'd been informed there was not, in fact, a spare room for her to stay in on the booked cruise ship. And if she hadn't already been grating on his nerves, Antoine might have found the good doctor's response to this information amusing, but as it was, she was just annoying.

"Captain, where do you propose I stay?" Brennan questioned, hands resting on her hips, evident through the flattering satin dress she'd worn for dinner.

"Well, you could stay with your FBI friend," Antoine indicated Booth standing in the corner with his finger. Temperance glanced back at her partner before turning her fiery eyes back on the Captain.

"How can you not have a spare room?" Temperance asked, somewhat rhetorically. She'd come to understand that cruise lines usually booked every single one of their rooms before setting sail, sometimes dropping the prices ridiculously low in an effort to catch a few more bites. But still, she'd thought there'd be _something_.

She didn't need a suite, although she was often treated to such things by the Jeffersonian or whoever was paying her tab on the occasion, and she didn't even need a room as nice as Booth's. All she needed was a bed and a blanket. She could manage. She'd slept on the floor of a dirt hut for three months when she was in Guatemala for God's sake!

"Well," Antoine raised his forefinger to his chin and mimicked thinking deeply, "there is _one_ room, recently vacated." Brennan's attention piqued, her eyes hopeful, waiting, "I believe Regina had her own room."

Brennan gave him a dark scowl but he only chuckled. If Temperance cared at all for psychology she might have classified this man as a sociopath, but she didn't so she didn't. She merely gave him another angry glare and succumbed.

"Booth's room will be fine," she grumbled. With a single nod of his head, effectively putting Brennan into her subordinate place, Antoine turned away from the partners and busied himself with his staff.

It wasn't that sharing a room with Booth was a bad thing. She'd done it enough times before to be generally comfortable with it, but she couldn't help feeling like Booth's room was for him and Parker and she already intruded enough by falling asleep on his bed that afternoon. Granted, Booth had been the one who had called her and asked her to come down, but still, she felt like she was imposing.

The other thing was slightly more physical than emotional and that was what Temperance was more focused on as she and Booth walked away from the bridge and down the long expanse of ship deck back toward Booth's stateroom. They walked in comfortable silence which offered Brennan a chance to mull over her thoughts.

She wasn't an insecure woman by any means, nor was she made uncomfortable by situations regarding sexual intimacy; but sharing a bed with Booth, her partner, her friend, and the man who she happened to have shared a very _thought_-provoking dance with only a few hours before, was a little unsettling.

Sure, there had been one bed at the hotel in Vegas, necessary for their cover as 'Tony' and 'Roxie'; but the truth was, the one night they slept there, Booth had stayed up long-past Brennan, and she found him curled up on the couch in the morning.

So as Booth reached out his keycard to open the door to his room, Brennan couldn't help the hitch of her breath. Reminding herself that A) Booth was a gentleman and he wouldn't let anything happen and B) just because they were sharing a bed did not mean anything _had_ to happen, she followed her partner inside.

Parker was sitting on the large bed watching television. Brennan froze slightly, looking at the object of her thoughts: that damn bed. She wondered where Parker was sleeping and her attention was drawn to Booth stepping through a door near the bathroom and coming back carrying Parker's pajamas. She gazed past him at the tiny, half room attached to the large main one, holding a small twin-sized bed, a little night stand and a television of its own.

"Come on, Park, time for bed," Booth instructed, stepping between his son and the cartoon show.

"Aw, just a little longer?" Parker whined.

"Nope, it's already way past your bedtime," Booth replied steadfastly.

"Okay," Parker gave in, pushing himself off the bed and taking the pajamas from his father. He trudged into his room and shut the door.

"He's a good kid," Brennan commented, her eyes still fixed on the closed door.

Booth couldn't suppress his smile, "Yeah, one of the best."

Brennan turned back to him, grinning.

"But that's a biased opinion," Booth added.

Temperance nodded as the door opened again and Parker slipped into the bathroom, brushing his teeth loudly to make sure his father was aware just how long he actually brushed for. He'd had a dentist appointment before the trip and was trying to impress his dad with how much he'd learned from the visit.

Brennan glanced at the small suitcase she'd packed and stowed in Booth's room earlier that day. She was thankful that she'd remembered to bring pajamas in her haste to leave the house that morning. God, had it really only been that morning? It felt like ages ago she'd left Sully in bed on a call from Booth.

She felt guilty again but it was quickly replaced by another feeling as Booth started pulling the covers of the bed back, revealing the soft, cotton-white sheets. Brennan swallowed involuntarily, watching him intently. The silence was broken by Parker's reappearance from the bathroom, freshly brushed and everything.

Booth slipped past Brennan and heaved his son into his arms. They disappeared into the other room and Brennan used the time to open her suitcase and search for her comfortable flannel pajama pants and old tank top.

"Bones," a squeaky voice behind her made Temperance jump a little. She glanced around to find Parker standing at the doorway in pajamas decorated with what looked to be a man dressed in a tight blue and red leotard, with various spider-inspired designs across it.

"Yeah, Parker?" Brennan asked, giving the small boy and bright smile.

"Goodnight," Parker said waving once before turning back on his heel and disappearing once more. Brennan called back to him before slipping into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

With Parker settled in bed, Booth stepped out of the little boy's room and closed the door gently behind him. He heard the faint sound of running water and gathered that Brennan was probably taking a shower.

He forced the thought from his head before gazing over the solid-blue comforter of the bed which he'd be sharing with his partner in a very short time. He swallowed sharply again.

He needed to keep his mind clear of any thoughts regarding the feeling of skin and satin under his fingertips, or of her warm breath on his neck, or of her proximity in general. He could feel his skin start to tingle in spite of himself.

But without another thought, he pulled off his jeans, opting for sweatpants instead of usual boxers, and slid into bed. He shut off the light near his head, hoping that maybe he'd be asleep before Temperance was finished in the bathroom.

No such luck, however, as a moment, the darkness around him was penetrated by the piercing florescent light from the bathroom. It was gone in a moment, however, and Booth heard Temperance move to the bed, pull back the covers and settle in beside him.

There was a comfortable amount of room between, partially because it was a king-sized bed and partially because the two were both lying as far to the side as they could without falling off.

The tension between them was palpable. Booth exhaled loudly, praying for sleep to come swiftly, but he was unrewarded, finding he was far more awake than he had been earlier. Perhaps that indulgent nap had been too much, throwing his sleep pattern off entirely.

Beside him, Brennan was feeling similar effects from her nap. She was beginning to feel jittery. She had a pretty vivid idea of what she usually did when she was graced with a bed-partner and couldn't sleep but in this instance, her bed-partner was in fact her partner-partner.

_God give me strength_, Booth begged, staring up at the ceiling, his eyes having adjusted to the darkness around him. He felt Temperance stir beside him and he desperately wanted to reach out to her, selfishly wanting some of that strength she flaunted so proudly.

As if by its own accord, Booth hand dragged itself from his side and felt for hers in the mountain of sheets and covers between them. When it closed hers, Booth heard Brennan breathe sharply and he was afraid that she might pull away, but instead, he felt her hand shift in his, entwining their fingers beneath the safety of the blankets.

It was as if everything was different here, Booth thought. There was no murder, no Jeffersonian or FBI, no Sully, just two people seeking strength from one another: A man and his fiancée.

He wanted to pull her to him, hold her until the end of time, but he knew, probably better than anyone, that this dream was going to end. They would solve the case, return to D.C. and this would all be a memory, a joke told over drinks at Wong Foo's: "so you remember that time on the cruise ship…"

He gritted his teeth bitterly.

Temperance was a rational person, and as such, she liked to weight pros and cons of every situation before deciding on the most, efficient, logical course of action. And in just fashion, she was debating whether to curl into Booth's warm embrace or settle for clinging to his hand like it was her only chance of survival.

She opted for the latter: it was safer.

And yet, as she finally felt the tension seep off her body and her eyes begin to drift shut, she kind of wished for something more dangerous.

(--)

The sound of an ever-smooth-talking rabbit was the first thing Booth heard as the remnants of sleep left him. Sunlight was cutting through the curtains, falling across the bed and warming the fabric, as he opened his eyes.

He was vaguely surprised not to find Temperance wrapped in his embrace, but couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when he realized that his hand had been pulled across her body, still clutched in hers, as she had turned on her side during the night.

He pushed himself off his stomach with his free hand and glanced at the adjoining room. Parker was lying on his tummy, munching on a granola bar and watching Bugs Bunny convince Daffy Duck that it was in fact duck, not rabbit, season.

"Psst, Parker," Booth called in a loud whisper.

The little boy looked up before bounding off his bed and launching himself onto his father. The action caused a ruffled Dr. Brennan to grunt and roll over her, waking up as she found Parker lying across her abdomen. She blinked a few times before smiling at the child who was giving her a sheepish look.

"Morning, Bones," he said. Booth rolled his eyes, so much for letting Bones sleep.

"Good morning, Parker," Brennan replied.

"Did you sleep good?" the boy asked.

"Yes, very well," Temperance answered, blushing slightly when she saw that her hand was still clasped with Booth's. She dropped it before meeting his eyes, but she saw only happiness dancing across the chocolate irises, the teasing spark having returned.

Booth held her gaze for a moment more before looking at his son, "So, who's up for some breakfast?"

"Me, me, me!" Parker exclaimed excitedly. Booth pulled himself, somewhat slowly, from the warmth of the sheets and reached for the telephone on the bedside table.

As Booth dialed some room service for them, Tempe couldn't help but glance at the clock. Her jaw nearly hit the floor when she saw that it was nearing nine thirty. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept till six o' clock, let alone nine thirty.

She realized, with some trepidation, that the reason for her peaceful slumber hadn't entirely been her lack of sleep the night before, but rather the person with whom she'd shared said slumber.

Pulling herself away from the bed, she grabbed a set of clean clothes and started toward the bathroom. Her shower the night before had effectively washed away the grit of a day's work, but this shower, she knew, was washing away several other feelings.

Sully was a good man. He genuinely cared about her; and Temperance had rarely had someone like that in her life. She didn't want to let 'another good one'--as Angela referred to the man--get away. And yet, Booth was…well, she couldn't find a good adjective to describe him, or what he meant to her.

It was for the same reason, she imagined, that she hadn't been able to properly explain to Sully why she'd left on a simple phone call. Although Temperance had made an obvious show of her animosity toward Booth for compelling her to fly down to the Caribbean, but the truth was, she didn't need any convincing. He'd said 'body' and she had made up her mind.

She felt the cool water wash over her; sometimes, when she was feeling particularly whimsical, she imagined that these sensations were what Heaven would feel like, if she believed in Heaven, which she didn't. Just to be clear.

A soft knock at the door broke her from her thoughts. Booth's voice echoed through the small room, reverberating over the drumming of the water on the glass walls of the shower.

"Hey, Bones, food's here."

Temperance hadn't even realized she'd even been in the shower that long, but a quick glance at her hands revealed prune-y fingers. She hadn't meant to drift into her thoughts like she had, but pushed away the surprise and turned the water off.

Stepping from the shower and toweling off quickly, she dressed and pulled her damp hair back into a loose bun, a few wet strands falling out of place. She appraised herself in the mirror once before deciding that she wasn't going to look any better and opened the bathroom door.

Which she then succeeded to push into Booth's unsuspecting face; he reeled back in pain and shock, knocking into the wall behind him. Brennan rushed to his side, Booth's hand pressed against his eyebrow. She pushed it away.

"Let me see," she instructed. He moved his hand, revealing an angry welt and bruise beginning to form, but nothing more serious.

"You're fine," she commented.

"Yeah, thanks," Booth replied sarcastically, rubbing his eye painfully.

"Sorry about that," Brennan added sheepishly.

"Nice aim, by the way, Bones," Booth joked, easing her guilt. Brennan smiled slightly despite herself and followed Booth the short distance to the bed and sitting area, where she was pleased to discover was a vast array of appetizing breakfast options. Parker was already inhaling pancakes, giggling at his father's new black eye.

Brennan sat down beside him and eyed the Belgian Waffles with anticipation. She felt her stomach rumble hungrily and without further hesitation, pulled the white china plate toward her.

Booth watched his partner and his son enjoying their breakfasts with equally appreciative looks dazzling their features. He was almost content to enjoy his cup of coffee and watch them eat…almost. He couldn't fight the fact that he was only slightly starving and grabbed a plate of steak and eggs, glancing once more at Brennan before digging in.

(--)

TBC...

A/N: I feel like now is a good time to thank all of you who have stuck by this story, and me and my crazy update schedule, since the beginning. You guys have been great and I appreciate everything! I hope you liked this chapter. Every time I get writer's block I find a nice fluffy BB chapter is just the thing to help with. Thanx!

Bee


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I only own the characters not normally seen on the show…and the plot bunnies…

Previously: _There was no murder, no Jeffersonian or FBI, no Sully, just two people seeking strength from one another._

(--)

"Right this way, Dr. Brennan," Hernandez stated as he led Temperance through the door of the security room and toward an office that was situated in the far rear corner of the room.

Brennan scanned the tiny office with a raised eyebrow. Hernandez had interrupted her examination of Regina's body--once again--to inform her that there something of a distressing situation in the security office. Temperance didn't understand how she was supposed to help a disgruntled employee-type but she agreed to follow the Head of Security nonetheless.

What she saw was a group of people crammed into the tiny office, standing around an average-looking desk. She frowned, confused. What the hell was she doing there? A tingling at the small of her back made her jump ever-so slightly, and she turned, surprised to see Booth standing beside her, his hand pressed against her lower back in his common fashion.

_When did he get here?_ She thought as he tossed her his charm smile and guided her toward the packed office. Hernandez shooed the many squatters out, leaving none but Temperance, Booth and the man himself.

"Mr. Hernandez, I really don't--," Brennan began.

"Bren?" The voice coming from the blinking telephone on the desk was frighteningly familiar.

"Angela?"

"Oh my god, Bren!" A rustling came over the lines as Angela's voice seemed far away, "Jack, I've got her!" She moved what Temperance could only assume was her hand, "Sweetie, where have you been?"

"Uh, here…" Brennan answered literally.

"Well, duh! But you haven't called. We were getting worried," Angela explained.

"Hi, Dr. Brennan," Hodgins' voice echoed in the small office.

"Hi Hodgins," Brennan replied.

"Enough of that!" Angela apparently retook the phone, "Sweetie, is Booth there with you?" The artist's voice was suddenly slinky and coy.

"Hey Angela," Booth said, answering her question. A piercing screech, from the other end, made them wince in pain.

"Is it just _gorgeous_ down there?" Ange asked.

"It's beautiful, Ange, look; Booth and I are working on a case and I could really use your help," Brennan explained, cutting off her friend's superfluous questions before they really began.

"Jeez, Bren, can you go anywhere without finding a rotting corpse or something?" Angela inquired rhetorically.

"Actually, it was here before I got here," Tempe said, "That's why Booth called me."

"She knows, Bones," Booth patted her arm gently. He smiled when she gave him a confused look but waved it off quickly and when into a short description of how Regina seemed to have died. Booth made it a point to ignore what she was saying. He'd seen it; he didn't need to hear it again.

"Okay, ew. Poor girl," Angela said, "Okay, well, just send the body back here and we'll see what we can do."

"That's the problem," Brennan said, anger filtering into her voice, "The Captain won't let us move the body off the ship."

"Sketchy much? Why not?"

"Well, apparently, we don't _actually_ have jurisdiction onboard. We're just _helping_."

"And do they want you to help solve the case, or do they just like you hanging out using their stuff?"

"You've got me, Ange," Brennan tossed a dark look at Hernandez who held up his hand in surrender.

A mutter and a rustling of the phone and Hodgins was back on: "Dr. Brennan, see if the Captain will let you send some particulate samples here. I can analyze them for you."

"I'll see what I can do," Brennan turned back to Hernandez.

"I'll go talk to Antoine," he said excusing himself from the room.

"Jack, the Head of Security is going to talk to the Captain about it," Brennan explained.

"Awesome…Zack…yeah, its Dr. Brennan…no, I'm talking to her…no…damn it--!"

"Dr. Brennan?" came Zack's tentative voice.

"Hi, Zack."

"Dr. Brennan when are you coming back?"

"Soon, Zack, as soon as the case is finished. Hey, Zack?"

"Yes, Dr. Brennan?"

"If I sent you some photographs of the bones could you take a look at them?"

"Certainly, Dr. Brennan, I'd be honored--hey, Angela!"

The phone was jostled violently and Booth snorted in amusement. He and Temperance shared a smile, both trying to suppress their laughter as the sounds of the Squints fighting over the telephone rang throughout the room.

_Squints_, Booth thought, _Geniuses, and yet they haven't mastered speaker-phone_.

"Sweetie?!" It seemed Angela had won the battle, not that it was expected any other way.

"Yeah, Ange?" Temperance asked.

"So, how's the weather down there?" the artist asked.

"Fine, it's warm," Brennan replied, "but I've only been here a day."

"Do anything dirty?" Brennan rolled her eyes.

"No, Angela, I've been working." _Well, except for the dinner and dancing_, she thought.

"Angela," Booth started, frowning a little, "How _did_ you manage to call here?"

Angela let out a small laugh, "What like its hard? I had the FBI hack into Bren's cell phone and traced the last call from you. Then I rerouted the phone line and back-tracked the phone-call till I got the Security Office there."

"Wow," Booth whistled, "You really are one of them."

"And proud of it, baby!" she exclaimed happily, "So what about that kid you mentioned? Izzy? How's she doing after, you know, seeing her mother die?"

Booth watched as Temperance's jaw shut tight and her hands balled into fists. He recalled the night before when he and Bones had gone to see the Captain about where Izzy was going to stay the evening. The Captain told them that she would be staying with Penny Persons, the dancer who used to watch the little girl, being that Booth and Brennan were not her guardians, nor employees of the cruise line. Therefore, due to insurance issues, apparently, Izzy was not their charge.

That had been before Temperance had learned that she wouldn't have a room to herself. Things had generally deteriorated after that. Booth grinned, despite knowing Bones was still pissed about it.

"She's being taken care of," Booth offered. Brennan gave him a disbelieving look.

"Well, that's good. That kid is going to need a lot of therapy. Was she able to tell you anything?"

"No, she had her eyes closed," Brennan explained.

"Ah, well, lucky her."

There was minute of silence.

"Sully was looking for you."

Booth felt his chest constrict painfully. Leave it to Angela to bring up Sully and effectively put an end to the fantasy world Booth had created. He slipped his hands into his pocket and rocked back and forth on his heels, his fingers clutching painfully at the poker chip, tucking safely in the lining of his jacket.

Temperance was watching her partner. She met his gaze solidly. She bit gently on her bottom lip, as her eyes desperately tried to search his, hoping to gauge his reaction. But his eyes were a mystery to her; the only thing of which she was aware was the teasing spark they so often held had vanished.

"What did he want?" Temperance asked her friend, her eyes still focused solely on those of the man across from her.

Even more than three thousand miles away, Angela could sense the tension in her friend's voice and, she imagined, in the room. Perhaps things had progressed more along the bikini and Mojito line than Angela had thought.

"He wanted to make sure you were okay. I'll tell him," Angela explained quickly.

"Okay, thanks," Brennan's voice seemed farther away.

"Sure thing, Sweetie." Silence. "Hey, I got go; Hodgie and I are going to go rattle a couple of bone-boxes down in limbo."

Pause.

"Have fun."

"I'm sure we will," the artist smiled, "Bren."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

"We will."

"Bye Booth."

"Bye Angela."

Angela gently placed the handset back down on the cradle, a pensive look on her face. Something was brewing down in the Caribbean, and she had a feeling she knew exactly what it was.

And she was suddenly worried. She was frowning when Hodgins walked back into her office. His mischievous smile turned into concern as he caught sight of Angela's face.

"Angie, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I love Bren, you know that, right?"

"Yes…" Hodgins replied hesitantly.

"And part of loving someone is knowing exactly how they react to things and what goes through their head."

Hodgins was utterly confused now.

"Yes…Ange, where's this going?"

"She's going to hurt him." She said simply.

"She's going to hurt who?"

"Booth. Bren is going to hurt him."

"Angela, Dr. Brennan won't--."

"Yes, she will. She won't even realize she's doing it. She just will. And then she'll lose him. And he's the guy she can't lose. He's _the _guy."

"That's why she has you," Hodgins placed a gentle hand against his girlfriend's face, "you are a great friend, Angela, and she knows that. She listens to you."

"That's sweet, Hodgie…" she looked down at the sketches scattering her desk. Temperance had been hurt by so many people in her life. Booth was the one guy who would do whatever was in his power to protect Brennan from harm. And he understood her personality, but he wasn't a robot. He was a man, and a very sensitive one at that (despite his adamant denial), and Angela suspected that Temperance Brennan was the one woman who could really hurt him.

"Angela," Hodgins guided her eyes back to his, "You are the most incredible woman I have ever met. I have faith in you."

Angela felt her heart swell and a few stray tears formed at the corners of her eyes. She blinked and smiled softly. It was amazing. A year ago she would have never thought she'd find someone as wonderful as Hodgins. She truly was blessed.

She'd gotten one of the good ones.

(--)

"That went well," Booth commented from his seat on the metal stairs of the boiler room, watching as Brennan scraped at the burnt corpse of Regina Daly with her scalpel.

"Yes, I hope Zack can offer some insight," Brennan agreed. Captain Antoine had acquiesced to let them send Jack some particulates from the body, particulates which Brennan was procuring at that very moment.

"Ah, I'm sure the Squint Squad will be able to give us something," Booth assured her, leaning against the railing.

They fell into silence, the only sound coming from bone against metal as Brennan gathered her samples. Booth restless sat on the stairs, waiting for her to finish so they could meet up with Officers Pierce and Keyshaw. The St. John's Police Department was taking the responsibility of transferring the dirt samples back to the lab.

He whistled quietly in artificially illuminated boiler room, receiving a death-glare from his partner. He quieted again; and then sighed loudly, somewhat over-dramatically.

Brennan rolled her eyes, "Do you need to be here?"

"What, Bones, I'm keeping you company," Booth replied innocently.

"You're keeping me annoyed is what you're doing," Brennan retorted, straightening.

"Well, maybe if you hurried up I wouldn't be so bored," Booth jumped to his feet.

"Well, maybe if you stopped being so antsy and stayed quiet for a few minutes I would be done faster," Temperance countered.

"Come on, Bones," Booth whined stepping toward her, "We're missing lunch and I'm starving."

"Do you want to catch this murderer or not?" Brennan asked, giving him a motherly look. He dropped his head in shame. "Besides, how do you know the murderer isn't one of the chefs? Huh, _accidentally_ dropping something in your food?"

Booth clamped his hands over his ears, "Nope! Don't try it Bones. Don't try to ruin my food. I'm starving and right now I don't care if the apple pie is laced with arsenic, I'm still eating it!" He grasped her wrist as started pulling her toward the staircase.

"No, Booth, I'm not finished here!" She protested as he ignored her and dragged her away from the body.

"She'll still be dead after pie, come on!" Booth contested.

"Booth!" She ripped her arm out of his grip and stalked back down the stairs. When he turned to reprimand her again, he saw that she wasn't looking at him or Regina. Instead she was transfixed by the boiler where the body had been found.

"What's wrong Bones?" Booth asked, stepping down beside her, glancing between the boiler and his partner.

"She didn't fight, Booth," Temperance stated matter-of-factly, "Why didn't she fight?"

Booth frowned, "They found her draped half-way out of the thing, Bones; I think that means she fought."

"But there are no broken nails. No injuries to her hands which would be congruent with an attempt at escape," Brennan explained, turning back to the body and focusing her attention on Regina's hands.

"So what are you saying, Bones: she was unconscious?"

Brennan looked at him, "I don't know."

The two of them, standing in the shadows of the make-shift lab, Booth and Brennan glanced at one another and then back at the ominous boiler where Regina had died.

"I'll look for any signs of unexplained trauma which could count for her being unconscious, if that was the case," Brennan added.

"So no pie," Booth asked miserably.

Brennan grinned and shook her head, "No pie."

"Tell that to my stomach," Booth poked his abdomen through his _White Stripes_ tee shirt and it rumbled loudly.

"I have a granola bar in my bag if you want it," Brennan nodded to her Jeffersonian tool kit.

Booth practically jumped on the bag, "Holding out on me, Bones?" He pulled the _Chewy Chocolate and Peanut Butter_ granola bar from the silvery wrapping and tore the sticky mess in half.

He shoved the piece under Brennan's nose, "Eat."

"I'm not hungry," she replied, pushing his hand away.

"Please, mine is not the only stomach writing a symphony in here. Eat," he ordered again.

"Will it make you shut up?" Brennan snapped playfully.

"No, but it's a start," Booth answered with a charm smile.

"Fine," she conceded, taking the piece of granola bar from her partner and pushing it into her mouth. As she munched, focusing back on examining Regina's body, Booth focused on keeping his mind and his eyes off her mouth.

_God, why do you do this to me?_ He thought miserably, raising his eyes skyward.

This seemed like it was pretty severe penance for having shot a couple of dictators in the head. And yet Booth cringed at his own crudeness. This might be cruel and unusual punishment but that was just because he was breaking one of the commandments.

_Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife._

Granted, Temperance wasn't married but she definitely wasn't single; and Sully was his friend, albeit a back-stabbing, woman-stealing friend. Booth frowned at himself again. Okay, so maybe he had denied that he _wanted_ Bones when Sully had called him on it. But just because he'd denied it didn't mean that Sully shouldn't have been able to tell that he was _lying_! And then, being aware of that information, the rat had gone and jumped into bed with Brennan anyway. Err!

"Did you just growl?" Brennan gave him a teasing look and Booth felt himself flush with embarrassment.

"No, that was stomach. It doesn't like being deprived of nutrients for so long," Booth lied.

"You ate like two hours ago, Booth, how deprived can it possibly be?" Temperance asked incredulously.

"Look, _mom_, I'm hungry, so sue me," Booth crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. Brennan nearly burst out laughing, but contained herself, eliciting a short chuckle before sealing her small evidence bag and turning back to her partner.

"Okay, I'm finished," she said.

"Really?!" Booth perked up.

"Yes, let's go find Officer Pierce so we can send these off to the Jeffersonian," Brennan suggested.

"Yes ma'am!" Booth took his partner by the arm once more and bounding up the stairs, dragging her with him.

(--)

TBC…

A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I hope you enjoyed the fluffy case-work and Angela's appearance. Plus, some people were asking for some Hodgela and I did my best to try to incorporate some fluff for them too. Reviews are my friends!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I only own the characters not normally seen on the show…

Previously: _"She didn't fight, Booth…Why didn't she fight?"_

A/N: Mmkay...hehehe...I have no excuse. I thought that I'd have time during my winter break to write, but with tension among my immediate family, and seeing friends that I hadn't seen in months and watching the first two seasons of Bones on DVD...I didn't have time to write. Ironically, now that I'm back at school, I should have more time...which is weird. Not to mention that we haven't had new episodes to refuel! Cold turkey is SO not fun: ( All I have to say is, while I DO NOT WANT THEM TO CANCEL US, if they decide as much, all I want is a REALLY GOOD KISS, preferably a smutty make-out session and maybe some sweetness of them being together! But I repeat I DO NOT WANT THEM TO CANCEL!

A/N 2: Mmkay, so I just went off on a HUGE tangent there. Sorry. Back to me apologizing for not posting this chapter sooner. Basically, I just finished it. It's shameless fluff/angst in the beginning and interesting-er case stuff at the end...but admit it, you just like the fluffity fluffy fluff fluff! Go ahead. You're among your fellow fluffers. Oh, god, rambling again! I'm going to go. It's late. Need sleep. R&R! I love you all! You've really kept me going on this one!

(--)

"Now where is your handsome fiancé this afternoon?" Tabitha asked as she handed Temperance a cup of coffee. The forensic anthropologist accepted it as she shifted her weight on the comfortable ottoman in the Martin's stateroom.

Nearby, Parker was sitting on the floor with Tabitha's grandchildren playing something called _Clue Jr. _The three were so focused on the game, making Temperance grin, as Parker lifted a game piece, inspecting its underside, before scribbling something and moving to the next clue.

_Just like his father_, she thought sweetly. But the thought of Booth drew Brennan's attention back to Tabitha who was still waiting for an answer. Tempe felt bad lying to her like she had. She still couldn't come up with a good reason why she'd ever even said anything about Booth being her fiancé; although she knew part of her reasoning was that she never thought the woman at the breakfast table that morning would ever meet Booth. It seemed like a victimless lie at the time; now…not so much.

"Actually, I have a confession to make," Temperance began, setting down her coffee cup.

"Really?" Tabitha asked innocently, raising her cup to her lips.

"Booth and I aren't…well, we aren't…"

"Engaged?" Tabitha supplied.

Temperance winced a little, "You knew."

Tabitha nodded, "I also know why you're really here."

Brennan paused, "You do?"

"Temperance do you know who owns the _Princess Grace_?" Tabitha inquired, setting her cup down. Temperance's frown deepened.

"No," she replied slowly.

"A stodgy, old, elitist and his over-indulgent wife," Tabitha answered with a smile. Temperance raised an eyebrow and Tabitha couldn't suppress a laugh at the young woman's face. She didn't really pick-up subtleties this one.

"My husband and I, Temperance," Tabitha clarified.

"Oh," Tempe's frown disappeared. Well that explained why Tabitha knew what she was really doing there. It made sense to tell the owner of the ship that one of his employees had been murdered onboard.

"So, you see, when I met you at breakfast the other, I already knew who you were and what you were doing here," Tabitha continued, "Not to mention that I've read your books. Fantastic."

Normally praise on her writing skills didn't matter much to Brennan, she preferred her science, and would rather be credited for that than her ability to make characters--who were in no way related to anyone in real life--have good sex in the back of a car. Since that seemed to be what people mostly enjoyed.

But hearing Tabitha comment on it made Brennan blush a little.

"Interesting dedication in the last one too," Tabitha grinned and Tempe blushed harder.

"So you knew he was my partner too," she stated.

"Yes, but seeing you two that morning, I wished that you really had gotten engaged," Tabitha replied wistfully.

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but Booth and I are just friends."

"Sure," Tabitha didn't sound convinced; but then again, most people didn't sound convinced when she and Booth defended their strictly professional friendship.

"He's my partner."

"He wants to be more."

"I'm seeing someone."

"He wants to be someone."

"It can't happen."

"It will anyway."

The two fell into silence as Parker and the others played.

A gentle knock at the door drew their attention and broke the quiet. Tabitha got to her feet and walked the short distance across the room. She glanced through the peep hole before opening the door. Standing in the hallway was none other than Booth himself, along with a smiling Izzy.

Booth laughed as Izzy threw herself at Temperance's waist, clinging to the anthropologist tightly. The chaos drew Parker and the other children to the doorway. The little boy embraced his father with a happy yell and Booth lifted his son over his head, making Parker look like a miniature Superman with his outstretched arms and legs.

"What are you doing here?" Brennan asked, kneeling eye level with Izzy.

"Agent Booth came and found me; he said you missed me," Izzy explained.

"I did miss you," Temperance replied as Izzy threw her arms around Brennan's neck and hugged her tightly.

Booth watched his partner squeeze the little girl and knew he'd done the right thing. She looked up at him and their eyes met: hers of gratefulness and his of pure content. The only he wanted was for her to be happy. She mouthed a thank you and Booth replied with an almost imperceptible nod.

"Dad, what're we going to do today?" Parker asked, poking his father in the chest.

Seeley thanked God that Brennan had decided she couldn't do much more than speculate until she heard back from Hodgins and Zack, so they had the day off; and though he felt a little skittish about leaving the investigation till later, being that there was still a murderer onboard, he wasn't complaining about being able to spend time with his son.

"I don't know, pal, what do you wanna do?" Booth inquired back.

"Wanna watch movies with Bones?" Parker suggested.

"Oh, well, I don't know what Bones has planned for today," Booth cautioned before turning to his forensic anthropologist, with a puppy dog look on his face.

Brennan laughed outright, "Well, how could I deny those faces?" Booth's sad look turned into a vibrant grin.

Temperance turned to Tabitha, "Thank you for the coffee."

"You're very welcome," Tabitha replied, smiling widely, "You all have fun," she added ushering Booth, Brennan and the two children out of the room.

(--)

"Just because you say it, does not make it accurate, Booth," Brennan contested as her grinning partner moved the word _squaggle _onto the _Scrabble_ board.

"_Squaggle_, it's the opposite of _squiggle_," Booth replied with an air of confidence.

"You can't have an opposite of _squiggle_, Booth," Brennan retorted, giving him a patented raised eyebrow.

"Bones, you're beating me by four hundred points; I think you can let me have _squaggle_," Booth said; his eyes begging her to relent. She couldn't deny that he was suffering. When they had sat down with the intent of playing a board game with the kids, Parker and Izzy had gotten bored relatively quickly.

_Just like his father_, Temperance thought for the second time that afternoon. So the little boy had broken out his collection of _Disney_ movies and let Izzy decide which animated film they would watch. Lucky for Parker that Izzy didn't mind the boyish side of _Disney_ and they quickly settled on _The Sword in the Stone_; which they were currently watching in Parker's adjoining room, since the adults were apparently being too loud in the main room.

"Fine, but that's the last freebee you'll get," Brennan finally said, waving her index finger at him.

"Jeez, Bones, you act like you've given me a whole ton of them before," Booth joked lightly, earning him a death glare look from the woman across the table from him.

Instead of responding, Temperance examined her letters, before grinning like the Cheshire cat and Booth knew he'd lost.

He tossed his _Scrabble_ dictionary onto the table, "You know what, forget Bones. I don't even want to know how many points you're going to win with; so let's just forget it, and credit you with the victory, huh?"

Bren sighed but smiled at him, "That's probably a good idea; it was a good word too."

"I don't wanna know," Booth implored as he pushed the letters from the board over the edge of the table, all landing neatly in the box. Temperance folded up the board and handed it to her partner.

"So what do we do know?" she asked.

"Well, Parker and Izzy seem content so, I don't know, we could watch a movie?" Booth suggested with a shrug.

"What movie?" she inquired, interested.

Booth shrugged again, "Let's see what we got?" He pulled his bag onto the bed, removing the DVDs he'd brought for his entertainment. Unfortunately for her, Booth hadn't predicted that Bones would be joining him, and the movies were geared more toward guys: _Tombstone_, _Die Hard _and _Terminator 2_.

"Sorry Bones, I wasn't planning on you being here," he apologized as she scanned the three titles with scrutiny. After a moment she picked _Die Hard _off the bedspread.

"This one," she said, handing it to him.

"You've never seen _Die Hard_?" he raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him.

"I never said I hadn't seen it. Of course I've seen it; it was one of Russ' favorites. He used to watch it at Christmastime," Temperance explained.

"As he should," Booth laughed, removing the DVD from the case and placing it in the player. When he turned back to her, Bones was already sitting comfortably on the bed. He gulped as discretely as he could.

After the events of the night before, not to mention that morning, he had remained an appropriate distance away from her; but the bed, though wide enough for them to sleep together, would not allow him the comfort he wished for. They would have to touch. Booth wasn't sure he'd be able to handle that.

_Self control, Seeley! Jesus! Grow a set and shut up._ He silenced his internal voice as he padded over to his side of the bed and sat down. He did his best to sit as far from her as possible but his leg kept slipping off the side, making him more uncomfortable than he already was.

As Fate didn't seem to be in his favor that day, Brennan noticed.

"You can move closer, Booth, I won't bite." _Hard_, came a voice in her head; a voice that sounded suspiciously like the nosy artist she'd talked to that morning.

Booth gave her a hesitant look but she refused to be denied just because the Angela in her head was having dirty thoughts about a man who wasn't her boyfriend. She patted the blanket next to her. Booth glanced downward at her hand, then back up at her face. She was waiting.

_Make up your mind, Seeley. She's gonna get pissed._

As involuntary as his hand last night, Booth's body moved closer to her. His shoulder brushed hers and they both tensed. They waited for a moment, almost expecting that something would happen without a conscious decision from either of them; however, when nothing did, both sighed in quiet relief.

The tension was broken; the DVD menu appeared; Booth pressed _play_ and they settled down into comfortable silence, watching Bruce Willis on screen.

Crisis averted.

(--)

"Hodgins," Cam's voice made the entomologist wince slightly. It wasn't that he didn't like Cam; he did. They had grown from the days of his anti-authority rebellion to being relatively good friends.

Still, he wasn't really a fan of being called out by his boss when he was working a case that she didn't know about. Granted it hadn't been his idea not to tell her. Actually he didn't think it was anyone's actual idea, nor had they said anything about it; it just seemed like a good idea, keeping Cam out of the loop. Plausible deniability, since apparently the FBI wasn't officially involved in the case.

_Yeah right_, Jack thought; _they're involved in everything, the fascists_.

"Dr. Saroyan," Hodgins greeted her with a curt nod; simultaneously, using his body to block out the evidence bag on his work station.

"Hey, I've got an ancient Peruvian warlord sitting on my exam table, who needs authentication, and I have a mandatory budget meeting which I am 'required to attend'." Her use of air quotes with her fingers amused him.

"That sucks. Want me to call and get you out of it?" he offered.

Cam laughed, "No, its fine. I get the politics of it. That is why they hired me. But I was hoping you could…" she trailed off as she noted Hodgins' strange body positions. He seemed to be hiding something, "…check out and date the tissue. What are you hiding?"

Hodgins froze, "Huh? What?"

"Hodgins, what're you hiding?" Cam placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm not hiding anything," Hodgins gulped but raised his chin defiantly.

"Does this have anything to do with why Dr. Brennan didn't come into work again today?" Cam asked suspicious.

"Dr. Brennan didn't come into work? Again? Huh, that is strange. I wish I could tell you why, but…" Hodgins gave her a wide, innocent smile, just as Zack walked up; his nose practically pressed against a glossy photograph.

"We should tell Dr. Brennan that there are clearly broken bones, but they are probably not the result of a struggle. Most likely from the victim being shoved into the boiler but someone twice their size," Zack finished explaining and looked up. Hodgins was wincing and Dr. Saroyan was glaring at both of them.

"Oh, crap," Zack said, paling.

"Nice job," Hodgins admonished.

"Okay guys, what's going on?" Cam inquired.

"Well, yesterday Agent Booth called Dr. Brennan and asked her to help him on a case he found while on vacation so Dr. Brennan flew down to the Caribbean and then Angela called her this morning and we all talked to her and she asked for our help because the Captain won't let them send the body up here and we're supposed to call her back in another hour to give her our results." Zack finally let out the last of his breath.

"And we didn't want to tell you because technically the FBI isn't working the case, Booth and Dr. Brennan are just helping out, and so we didn't want you involved if there was any fall out," Hodgins finished for him.

"Ah," Cam nodded once, "well, as long as it doesn't interfere with anything we're actually doing here, it's fine with me."

"Really?" Zack was surprised.

"Hey, I like to help out pro bono too. I just like to be in loop when it happens," Cam told them. Hodgins was grinning and Zack was still in disbelief.

She gave them a last look before taking a few steps away and then turning back, "If you need anything…let me know." With another nod she walked away, leaving Zack and Hodgins behind.

"She's so cool," Zack stated awestruck.

"She's okay," Hodgins turned away from the young anthropologist and pressed his face to the eyepiece of his microscope. He'd spent the last few hours trying to determine what it was the Dr. Brennan had sent him. It bothered him that he couldn't identify the substance, not only because he hated an unsolved problem; but mostly because he knew that Dr. Brennan was working under strict and limited conditions, and she needed his help. This I.D. could make or break the case.

He frowned as he studied the slide. He recognized the particles but for the life of him, couldn't identify them. Then as if the proverbial light bulb went off in his head, he realized what it was.

"You have a strange look on your face," Zack said, frowning at Hodgins.

"I know what it is. And I know why I couldn't figure it out before." Hodgins answered.

"And that is?"

"Cocaine!" Hodgins announced, brushing past Zack and jogging toward Angela's office, leaving the young anthropologist to call after him.

"Cocaine?"

(--)

"It was mixed with Benzotriazole," Hodgins explained to a nodding Brennan and very confused Booth.

"Which is?" Booth inquired.

"A chemical additive found in plastic products; it's used in packing materials and would explain why we found an excessive amount of nitrogen-oxide damage to the bones; when heated to decomposition, the additive lets off the nitro-oxide fumes, which, during the super-heating that the body was exposed to, would have been seared to the corpse, leaving a finger print on the bone and flesh," Hodgins spewed. Booth cringed.

"So she was carrying a plastic bag, with made of this Benzotri-whatever, and cocaine?" he summed up, looking to Brennan for confirmation.

"It looks that way," she nodded.

He slapped his hands together, "Great."

"Looks like your murder victim wasn't so innocent," Angela commented sadly.

"Doesn't mean she deserved to die," Booth snapped, before starting for the door.

"Where are you going?" Temperance asked.

He turned back to her, "Going to talk to Penny; maybe she'd like to tell me what's really going on here." Without another word, he pushed the Security Office door open and left Brennan alone with Hodgins, Zack and Angela.

"Did you two have sex?" came Angela's blunt question, and apparent answer for everything that bothered Booth.

Temperance blinked, "What?" Realization dawned. "No, Ange. He's just upset."

"Oh, well, maybe you should," she suggested.

"Hodgins, you said Cam was willing to help?" Hodgins answered in the affirmative, "Then see if she can run a toxicology report from the sample of tissue I sent you. It will help if we know whether Regina was using the cocaine."

"She was carrying it in her pocket," Zack said, as if that meant everything.

"Don't jump to conclusions Zack," Brennan admonished.

"Sorry Dr. Brennan," he replied.

"It's alright," she responded. And then she recalled her examination from earlier, "See if Cam could test for anything that may have caused paralysis of the limbs, too."

"Why?" asked Angela.

"Because it may explain why she didn't fight back," Temperance replied.

(--)

TBC...though I'm not sure for how much longer...with the cocaine revelation we are nearing the close of this story. I'm sure we've still got some good chapters ahead of us though so don't worry: ) Your reviews are greatly appreciated! It let's me know you're reading, even if you just drop a smiley on me, I like knowing you're still there: ) Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I only own the trivial characters not normally seen on the show…

Previously: _Crisis averted._

(--)

"What did Penny say?" Temperance asked as she pulled her brown hair back into a floppy bun; she glanced at the bathroom mirror, checking to make sure she didn't look completely grotesque as she exited the tiny room and flicked off the light.

Booth was shifting photos and file folders which were scattered across the bed, standing in sweat pants and a fit _White Stripes _tee shirt, on the opposite side. He looked up as she stepped into view. She was only wearing a pair of light blue plaid shorts and a white tank top, but she looked even more beautiful than Booth had ever seen her.

"What?" she asked conscious of his stare. She wrapped her arms around her middle and let her eyes fall to the floor.

Booth knew he should look away, he was making her uncomfortable, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the strand of dark hair falling from her loose bun, draped across her eyes. After a moment, brown met blue once again; this time, intensity met hesitancy.

He blinked. He had to. If he didn't break contact now he didn't think he'd be able to do so again. He looked back down at the photographs. He heard Brennan sigh lightly, and couldn't help the smile that spread across his mouth when he caught sight of smooth legs folding underneath her lean body on the opposite side of the bed.

"So…" she began.

"So?" he looked up again.

"What did Penny say?" Temperance repeated.

"Oh, well, she said she didn't know anything about it; but let's face it. She probably knows something," Booth answered.

"I get the feeling that everyone knows something," Brennan agreed.

"Me too, and I do not like it," Booth emphasized this with his hands.

Temperance chuckled for a moment, but her annoyance with the case overtook that.

"Neither do I; I mean it takes one day by cruise ship to reach Puerto Rico. _One day_. Instead this is taking three because the Captain wants everyone to _enjoy the trip that they paid for_." She let out a short, sarcastic laugh. "I think they'd much rather get _away_ from the crazy person who shoves people in boilers and let's them burn to death."

"You'd think."

"_Three_ days, Booth! _Three days!_" she threw up her hands in anger.

Booth knew exactly what she was feeling. He was more annoyed with this case than he'd ever been before; he hated being stonewalled by people who claimed to have authority over him.

Still, as much as he agreed with Brennan, Parker and Izzy had only barely fallen asleep in the next room, and the door was still opened slightly. So he couldn't help but wince when Temperance's voice got an octave louder.

"Bones, I know; I do, trust me. But we can't focus on that. We've got a case to solve," Booth pressed his palms against her upper arms, holding them gently in place.

"And we've only got," she glanced at the bedside clock, "about 34 hours left to do it. When we reach Puerto Rico, whoever did this is going to be gone."

"Then I guess it's a good thing we're stuck on the boat with him, huh?"

"If we can figure out who he is."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Bones," Booth pouted, half-heartedly.

She shoved him on roughly on the shoulder and he laughed.

"Mature, Bones, really," he teased and she rolled her eyes at him.

His laughing faded into a content silence. She smiled warmly at him, holding his sparkling gaze. His grin slipped away as he got lost in her eyes once more. Those deep, cerulean pools which always held so many emotions, locked away from the world.

This was bad. Really, really bad; she knew that. There was Sully to think about after all. He was waiting back in DC for her. And yet, she couldn't help the way her heart started beating faster as Booth's eyes bore into hers. Nor could she help the way her breathing hitched when his lips parted slightly.

She could, however, probably have helped when she leaned forward ever so suddenly and crushed her lips against his perfectly parted ones. She wasn't sure which of them was more surprised.

It took Booth a split second to respond to her and even as his mouth begged her for more, she was pulling away. His eyes were closed. But she wouldn't have called the expression on his face contentment. Perhaps panicked was a better word.

He cracked one eye open, almost painfully. Then the other followed as he met her wide blue ones, practically the size of saucers. She let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, as he swallowed sharply.

"That was a mistake," she stated; her voice was firm, but Booth could read those beautiful blue eyes he loved so much, and they didn't seem so sure.

"Big mistake," he agreed. God, how many times had he said that to a woman? He had always been hoping it would never happen that way with Bones, and yet, here they were.

"Sully--," she began.

He nodded, "Right."

They sat in silence as their gazes shifted away from each other.

She had brought him up; she knew that there was a good reason for it. He was a great guy. There were so many great things about him: a great many in fact. Yup, a lot of great things about Sully: great things that she couldn't remember for the life of her.

She looked back at Booth. He wasn't looking at her. He was looking anywhere but her, humming quietly to himself and bouncing his head almost imperceptibly. As was usually the case, her eyes were drawn to his lips. She could still feel them against hers.

_What was I thinking about?_ She asked herself, _Oh, yeah. Sully: Sully is a great guy. He's so…soft. Who would have thought his lips were that soft? Oh, shit. _

Booth felt her eyes on him but he refused to meet her gaze. She'd initiated the contact; the next move was hers as well. He wasn't stupid and he definitely didn't want to lose her by pushing her to him what she was thinking. So he waited and God, he was in such deep shit.

There was no way he'd be able to see her with Sully again now. If it had been hard before, it would be near impossible as soon as they got back to DC. _Shit_. He was _so_ screwed.

She watched him.

"Booth," her voice was tentative, despite her resolve.

He finally met her eyes, looking relieved that she was actually talking, "Yeah?"

Instead of replying, she placed her palm flat against his chest and kissed him again. He was no more prepared the second time around, but it took him less time to respond. He slipped his hand to the base of her neck holding her there.

Her left hand joined the right, pressing against his chest. His free hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him as both her hands moved around his neck.

Her mouth tasted like Heaven. Soft and velvety: everything he'd ever dreamed it to be. He leaned back against the pillows, pulling her partially on top of him. He knew that they were probably destroying all their notes and paperwork from the case, but he didn't care. All he cared about was the Bones was lying on top of him, curling her tongue deliciously against the roof of his mouth--_and, oh, God! Bones is--this is wrong!_

As much as it pained him to do so, he moved his hands to her shoulders and pushed her away as gently as he could manage. She pulled back, nodding, this time her eyes closed tightly.

"Bones, that was--."

"I know, I know. It's wrong." She opened her eyes.

He was breathing heavily, "Yeah, wrong. We can't."

They were still so close.

"Definitely," she agreed, "Definitely…can't…"

She was pretty sure he kissed her first this time. But she didn't get a chance to further debate this as Booth's kisses were making rational thought impossible. She gripped tightly to the fabric of his tee shirt and pulled him down as she lay back on the bed.

She felt his fingertips trailing across her bare stomach where her shirt had ridden up. The tiny electric jolts were enough to shock her once more. She let go of his shirt, flattening her palms against his broad chest once more, but this time she pushed against him.

The pressure made him snap back into reality. He sat up, dragging himself away from her. Grabbing her wrists, he helped her back into a sitting position. They stared at one another for a few moments.

"This isn't good," Booth breathed.

"Gee, ya think?" Brennan replied sarcastically.

They were both kneeling, on opposite sides of the bed, staring at one another. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip involuntarily. The movement caused a stirring in his stomach.

"What are we gonna do, Bones?" he looked at her, worry etched into his handsome features.

"We have to do something?"

His eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

Brennan frowned at him, "Yes, I mean, why do we have to do anything?"

"Were you just in the room a minute ago? We can't keep our hands off each other." He couldn't believe she was choosing to ignore this.

"Well," she tried to calm her racing pulse. She couldn't look at him. She kept seeing Sully's face in the back of her mind. And if that didn't freak her out enough, Booth seemed to think that they had to do something about this kissing thing. Temperance was completely comfortable forgetting it ever happened. Except, she knew she wouldn't be able to that.

"This changes things, Bones."

"Why? Why do things have to change?" Her voice was getting higher as she began to panic.

"Bones…" he could see her starting to freak out; it was the one thing he knew was going to happen, whether she was the one to make the first move or not. But he had not been counting on the fact that he would be freaking out too. Mostly because he kind of figured she'd be single when he started sticking his tongue down her throat.

"No, Booth. I--we--I mean--," she leapt off the bed, running her hands through her hair and pacing; suddenly she stopped and turned to him, "Things don't have to change. We have to forget it."

His jaw tightened.

"I _can't _forget it."

"Booth…"

"I _can't_ Bones."

"You have to," she stated. They fell into silence and he swung his legs off the side, his back to her. He couldn't look at her. It wasn't like he'd never been hurt by a woman before; hell, he'd had a wedding proposal thrown back in his face by his pregnant girlfriend; but Brennan was the one woman he always hoped things would work out with.

She sat down on her edge of the bed, facing Parker's mostly closed door. She'd never hurt this badly before. If she believed that it was scientifically possible for hearts to break, she imagined that this is what it would have felt like. But she couldn't risk losing him. She wouldn't. And she wouldn't hurt Sully either.

"You're not going to leave him, are you?" His voice was hollow, broken. She couldn't speak, couldn't risk opening the flood gates. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't.

But the hesitation was all the response he needed. He nearly threw himself off the bed toward the door.

"I'm going for a walk."

The door slammed behind him. The sound of it but through her and her sharp sobs replaced the silence. Lying back against the pillows, she curled up into a tight ball, as tears ran down her cheeks and soaked the sheets beneath her head.

She had never thought that protecting a partnership would hurt this much.

(--)

He knew what she was doing. But it didn't make it hurt any less. He'd spent the last hour and half walking around the deck of the massive ocean liner, and he hadn't begun to feel any better about the situation.

He was in love with her. There was no simpler way to put it. He was in love with her and she just wanted to be partners. The kissing had been a fluke. A _big mistake_ as he had so eloquently put it.

And yet, for the first time in a long time, he had felt sublimely happy. For a moment, he was content with his life. And then things had fallen apart. He shouldn't have said anything.

But he didn't deserve to be tossed out on this limb. He didn't deserve to have her that close and then ripped away again. And he didn't deserve to be the _other_ guy. He couldn't be.

He opened the stateroom door quietly. Brennan was asleep on the bed, curled into the fetal position, her knees clutched against her chest. He couldn't help it. He moved to her side and pulled the thin blanket up over her long legs.

Watching her sleep, he made a decision.

He _wouldn't_ be the other guy, no matter how much he loved her.

(--)

TBC…

We're down to the wire people. Only thirty-something hours before they reach port and the killer disappears…dun, dun, duh! Lol! R&R please! They feed my soul!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I only own the characters not normally seen on the show.

Previously: _He _wouldn't _be the other guy, no matter how much he loved her._

A/N: Go ahead, yell, scream, punish me. I deserve it. The only thing I can say is I lost inspiration for actually physically writing this story. I had the conversations in my head, I know the way this is going to end, but I couldn't get myself to write it down, everything sounded like crap - so I took a _Bones_ break and tried my hand at some _Tin Man_ oneshots which are going well, but I can't leave this story unfinished again - so with some effort, I sat down and wrote this. I know there's a lot of stuff that happens in such a short chapter but - hey, at least it's not boring...I have to say, there is only going to be one more to this story...so hold on, because we've got a lot going on!

(--)

She didn't know what woke her up, but the lights were off and the room was eerily dark. She didn't open her eyes at first, secretly hoping that it had all been a bad dream and she'd find Booth sleeping peacefully beside her.

But he wasn't sleeping beside her. He was sleeping in one of the over-stuffed chairs near the window. Brennan pushed herself up on her elbow. She thought for a moment that he was still awake, arms crossed over his chest, but when he didn't respond to her gently saying his name, she concluded that he'd fallen asleep.

_He's going to be in pain tomorrow,_ she thought and momentarily wondered if she should wake him and order him to move to the bed with her, but after the events of that evening she was pretty sure that was the last thing he would want to do.

Instead, she slipped from underneath the covers and padded over to him, the thin blanket from the bed in her hands. Careful not to wake him, she pulled the blanket over him, letting her fingertips trail up his arms and across his cheekbones.

She retracted her hand abruptly, however, when he shifted in his sleep, startling her. She watched him for a moment more before tearing her eyes away and walking back to bed. She slid under the covers and turned on her side, away from him.

Closing her eyes, she willed sleep to come.

Booth's eyes opened slowly. Brennan was already back in bed, curled into the covers. He glanced down at the blanket she had placed over him, then back at the woman in question.

He prayed for the strength to let go of her.

(--)

"Cam ran the tox-screen," Angela stated later that morning.

"And?" Booth inquired, trying to release the tension in the back of his neck.

"There was no cocaine in her system. Which means, either she hadn't taken a hit in a while or…"

"Or she's not an addict," Booth finished for her.

"Bingo, baby," came Angela's reply.

"Great," he scrubbed his hands over his tired eyes. Vacation was not supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be all fun and sand and happy times. Not murders and drugs and loosing his best friend.

"On the other hand, we found out what probably paralyzed her," Hodgins' voice chimed in.

"In English please," Booth reminded him.

"It's a Curare-derivative," Hodgins answered.

"Yeah, I don't know what that means," Booth's frustrated growl made Angela cringe at her boyfriend sitting in the office beside her.

A hollow voice filled the small security office where Booth sat, "Curare is a poison found in South America; it's commonly used by hunters who tip their arrows in the substance. It affects neuromuscular transmission causing muscle relaxation and eventual paralysis."

Brennan's eyes were on everything but Booth. And the agent couldn't help but notice this. She looked like she hadn't slept all that well either. He desperately begged for some sick enjoyment at thought that he wasn't the only one with a sore neck but - no matter how angry and hurt he was - he couldn't be happy at her expense.

"Hey, Sweetie," Angela had turned to concerned-mode, "You don't sound too hot."

"I'm fine Angela, I was just up early working," Temperance replied coolly.

"Okay," Angela took the hint, "Well, Cam found out that the dosage used on Regina Daly had other things in it; probably watered down version."

"That would explain why she wasn't fighting when her attacker pushed her into the furnace."

"Yeah, we wish we could give you more, but the samples are so little," Angela sounded honestly upset by the minimal help she and the others could give Brennan, but at that point, Temperance didn't care. All she wanted was to find the killer, get the _hell_ off this damned boat, go home, curl up under a blanket and waste away. She deserved that.

"It's fine, Ange, I know you're trying," Brennan assured her.

She looked at her watch and a sense of panic started to tremble in her stomach. They only had 24 hours left to catch their killer before he disappeared into the warm Miami sun and was off scot-free! She couldn't and wouldn't let _that_ happen.

Forcing herself to focus, she looked at Booth. He seemed surprised to be meeting her gaze - and maybe that was surprising, she didn't care - they had a killer to catch. She repeated that over and over in her head as Booth dark eyes bore into hers.

"We need to talk to Izzy again."

(--)

The little was playing with Parker when Booth and Brennan found her. They were running around Discovery Land with the other children, both wearing hand-made masks on their faces. Brennan would have laughed had she not been as focused.

She had to lock up her heart in that box she'd told Zach about. This was not going to be easy for Izzy and Temperance imagined it wouldn't be for her either. She was - after all - going to ask the traumatized kid about her mother's murder.

"Hey, Tempe!" Izzy rushed the doctor and latched her arms around Brennan's neck.

"Hi, Izzy," Brennan pulled back, "are you having fun?"

"Uh-huh, Parker and I were playing monsters," Izzy explained. Temperance stopped herself from telling Izzy that monsters were not real and it was irrational to think they were, not only because Izzy was a child, but also - Brennan realized - there _were_ such things as monsters, and one of them had killed Izzy's mother.

"That sounds fun," Brennan smiled but the expression didn't reach her eyes and Izzy touched her fingertips to Temperance's face.

"You don't look happy," Izzy observed.

"I have to ask you some questions…about what happened to your mom," Brennan stated slowly.

Izzy's face became the picture of horror. "You said I wouldn't have to talk about it after the last time!"

"I know, I know," Brennan tried her hardest to soothe the child trying to pull away from her, "But Booth and I need your help Izzy. We aren't going to be able to find the man who hurt your mom, if you don't help us."

Izzy stopped squirming, but didn't look at Temperance. For a moment, Booth was afraid Izzy was going to close up and they wouldn't get anything out of her - and they desperately needed _something_ - he'd seen even traumatized people act in a similar manner. Hell, even _Brennan_ had shut him and the rest of the world out whenever she'd been pushed too far.

"I don't know who he was."

It was so quiet that Booth thought for a moment that the little girl's voice had been in his imagination; that he'd been hoping so hard he was hearing things. But Brennan's grateful expression and partial smile proved that he'd been correct.

"But he had a loud voice and he was…angry," Izzy whispered.

"Do you know why he was angry?" Tempe asked.

Izzy nodded, "Me and mommy were leaving. He didn't like that."

"Why not?"

"He said mommy knew too much…that she couldn't leave…." She began to sob loudly and threw her arms around Brennan's neck once more - burying her face in Temperance's shoulder and shaking violently as the doctor held onto the eight-year-old.

"Shh," Brennan whispered, her eyes meeting Booth's, "it's okay. It's okay, everything's going to be okay. We're going to find him."

Booth hoped he could keep her promise.

(--)

"She was trying to leave, Booth," Brennan repeated as they walked along the corridor of ship, heading toward their shared suite to go over the files again, adding this new information to their already minimal amount.

"Yeah, I heard Bones," he huffed. He didn't need her to tell him what they already knew. He knew all that. He needed new info; he needed a suspect and so far they had a senile sex-partner and the woman's boyfriend. He had gotten officially nowhere in the last three days - well, nowhere except effectively ruining his friendship with his partner.

"So it _was_ about the drugs. You were right," Brennan pointed her finger at him, prodding him in the shoulder as they walked.

"Yeah, that's great Bones, except we still don't know _who_ killed Regina and now we've probably just traumatized her kid even more," Booth snapped. Temperance froze. She should have expected his chilly demeanor but it still surprised her. She had thought - hoped, really - that they would at least be civil while working - but this was clearly not the case.

She swallowed the painful lump that had lodged in her throat and moved to catch up with Booth as he neared their stateroom. Suddenly the agent stopped and swung his arm out to catch her across the middle, forcing her to an abrupt - and somewhat painful - stop. She frowned at her partner but he wasn't looking at her, his dark eyes were focused on the doorway to their stateroom.

The doorway to their stateroom that was open.

Booth drew his gun from the holster under his brown leather jacket and moved slowly and quietly into the room, followed a little too-closely by an ever-curious Brennan. Their clothing was tossed about the place as if someone had been searching for something.

Before Booth could even begin to make the room was safe, Brennan was already darting forward, her hands rummaging through the clothing on the bed. Booth sighed, frustrated as he quickly checked the bathroom and Parker's room before stepping to Brennan's side.

"All my notes from the case are gone, Booth," she indicated the empty file folder.

"They cleaned us out," he reiterated.

"Well, at least we know they're still on board," she suggested.

"Yeah, great," Booth gave her a worried look.

After a breath of silence, Temperance froze. _Oh my god_…heart stopped and she looked over at Booth once more. The panic in his eyes told her he was thinking the same thing. Without a word, they both took off at break-neck speeds out the door.

(--)

Booth heard his heart pounding in his ears and he was pretty sure it wasn't from the exhilarating run as he and Temperance ran full out back toward Discovery Land. He was sure he was going have a heart attack in a moment if he didn't get back and find Parker.

His mind raced to that last time his son had been in danger of a psycho serial killer. Booth had nearly scared the poor kid to death but the agent had never been happier to see his son cry. He was only hoping for the same today.

Temperance thought she might choke on the tears that had inexplicably started making long pathways from her eyes to her chin. She tried to wipe them away but it proved harder than expected as she was pushing through crowds of people.

_Oh, god, if you do, by some chance, exist_, she thought painfully, _please let them be okay…please…_

Her silent begging to a potentially non-existent higher power was forgotten, however, as she Booth rounded the corner and nearly plowed through the doors of Discovery Land.

"Parker!" he yelled it as they burst through the door, scaring several children into tears. When the little blonde boy didn't come rushing at him, Booth's heart rate increased tenfold. He called again.

Brennan was already running through the groups of children, searching for Parker or Izzy but she found nothing. A petit blonde woman attempted to stop her after Temperance had grabbed a little blonde boy and nearly gave the kid a hernia.

"Ma'am, you need to _calm _down," the woman instructed, her arms bent at the elbow in a half-surrender-half-soothing position. God, Brennan _hated_ psychology.

"I'm trying to find two kids," Brennan heaved, barely able to breathe.

"What are their names?" the woman asked.

"Parker Booth and Izzy Daly!" she yelled loudly, but no response came and she looked back at the employee, "they might be missing," she added, glancing over at her partner who was in a heated debate with two hefty-looking staffers, flashing his badge was apparently getting him nowhere.

"I'll check the records, see if anyone came to take them, ma'am, but you need to stop yelling."

"Right - Parker! - please hurry - Izzy!" Brennan scanned the room over the woman's head.

"Ma'am I don't want to have to call security," the woman was using a falsely authoritative voice. Brennan had heard the voice before from the men in her department - men who had tried to tell her what to do - tried and failed.

"You can call whomever you want, but if you don't go over to that computer _now_ and find those kids you'll be hearing from my friend over there with the gun," Brennan replied.

"Are you threatening me?" the woman was taken aback.

Temperance rolled her eyes and pushed past the employee. She stepped behind the counter and quickly looked over the computer.

"Excuse me! Ma'am you can't be back there! Ma'am!"

Brennan, who had found the appropriate keys on the screen, looked up at the blonde woman and curtly replied, "Shut up," before turning back to the computer and pulling up the check-out lists. Her heart sank as she read over the information.

_Booth, Parker _picked up at _12:43p.m._

_Daly, Isabelle _picked up at _12:43p.m._

(--)

Dun, dun, dun! Oo, a cliffhanger! Sorry about it but I had to make sure you guys were still gonna show up for the last chapter. Again with the missing kids and BB tension - and I thought we'd gotten past that! R&R, they are my life!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I only own the characters not normally seen on the show.

**Previously:** Parker and Izzy are missing…

**A/N:** No excuses, but in my defense the utter lack of new _Bones_ episodes killed my muse. Sorry about that. But after last night, she was once again inspired to finish this mess.

* * *

Brennan felt her stomach drop out as she stared at the words on the computer screen in front of her. She could see them, could read them, but her mind simply wasn't processing them.

"Booth!" her voice called; she felt like she was having an out-of-body experience, which was completely illogical - but so was the connection she seemed to have developed to Izzy in such a short time.

Her partner dashed over to her, sidestepping angry employees and frightened children.

"They aren't here," Brennan stated, pointing to the screen. Booth's eyes widened as he read the words, his face loosing all of it's color. She imagined she looked quite similar.

"You let _someone_ else take my son?" Booth's face was suddenly no longer pale, but red with fury - fury, Brennan noted, that was directed at the young woman who Temperance had questioned moments before.

"Sir, I don't know what could have happened. The only way a child is allowed to leave this area is if they are removed by a parent," the girl stuttered.

Temperance figured a normal person would feel bad for this girl; she did not. She was worried. The knot in her stomach was growing exponentially.

"Booth," she placed a hand on his upper arm, and found - with some annoyance - that her hand was shaking. Ignoring this unsettling observation, she pulled her partner away from the meek woman.

"We should split up, we'll cover more ship that way," Temperance suggested. Booth blinked at her once - as if realizing she was actually standing in front of him - before he nodded and pulled his cell phone out of his jeans pocket.

He pressed a few buttons and held it to his ear, "Pierce, yeah it's Booth. Have you and Keyshaw left yet? My kid's missing. And so is Isabelle Daly. Yeah, meet me and Bones on Deck B by Discovery Land," he hung up, gave the young woman who was still cowering nearby another glare before grabbing hold of Brennan's wrist and pulling her along with him toward the door.

They waited only a moment before Pierce and Keyshaw ran up to them, both officers out of breath from their trek up from their waiting Police Skiff, which was floating by the side of the liner.

"Your kid's missing?" Pierce finally heaved through ragged breaths.

"Yeah, we're splitting up. You and Bones check the lower levels; Keyshaw, you and I will take care of the upper decks," Booth ordered, "Take the shot if you've got it."

Brennan's eyes widened at the purely dark look reflecting in Booth's eyes. She'd never seen him like this - even after the Epps debacle. Then his eyes had been dead, now they were raging. She'd never been afraid of her partner before.

"Yes sir," Pierce nodded as he and Brennan took off toward the closest flight of stairs.

For the first time in her life, Temperance Brennan prayed that they'd find the children.

* * *

Four holds: No children.

Three spill rooms: No kids.

The knot in her stomach: Painful at this point.

The Boiler room was their next stop and Brennan nearly slapped herself in the forehead for her stupidity. Her worry was making her irrational. Of course whoever had kidnapped Parker and Izzy had taken them to the Boiler Room - Regina's body was still down there.

Brennan took off at a near run - leaving Pierce to turn in surprise before trailing after her - as she reached the door, she threw it open and felt her chest release slightly at the faint sounds of crying.

She ran down the steps without another thought and only when her foot hit the last step did she realize it was probably not the smartest thing she could have done.

She was surprised to see Hernandez's wide-eyed expression staring back at her from the boiler door where he had been attempting to push Regina's corpse into the incinerator. His mouth was hanging open as his eyes met hers.

"You?" she pointed an index finger at him in disbelief.

Hernandez looked down at the corpse wrapped in a black plastic bag in his arms as if he'd forgotten he'd been holding it, "I didn't kill her."

"Then why are you destroying evidence?" Temperance asked matter-of-factly. She shifted her gaze slightly and noted the two children, crying but otherwise seemingly unharmed - _thank god_ - handcuffed to a pipe behind him.

Hernandez opened his mouth to answer when the voice of Mike Pierce echoed off the walls as his footsteps fell on the metal stairs. Brennan turned to see Mike coming down the stairs, his gun raised at the man behind her.

"Dr. Brennan, are you all right?" he asked, his eyes focused on Hernandez.

"I'm fi -," her voice cut off as a single shot rang out through the room. Temperance's eyes widened and her jaw dropped with the sickening thud of Pierce's body hitting the ground, blood spilling everywhere.

Temperance stared at the spot where the shot had originated, holding her breath, her arms raised in surrender, as first the barrel of a gun appeared from the shadows, followed by an arm, and then the entire body of a man stepped forth and Brennan gasped.

* * *

"Clear!" Evelyn's voice reached Booth's ears as he threw aside another lawn chair from the side of the deck. He could sense the employee's distaste and frustration at his less-than-gentle attitude toward their deck furniture, but he frankly didn't give a flying fuck.

He saw the dark haired woman come out of another stateroom and met her gaze. He couldn't help but feel a little touched by the worry radiating from her eyes. It made him feel a little less crazed.

He and Keyshaw hurried to the next door. He banged on it until a harried looking couple opened the door.

"FBI, I need to check your room." He had barely completed the sentence before he pushed inside. He threw the covers up from under the bed as Keyshaw checked the bathroom. They were both met with another 'clear'.

On to the next room.

"FBI, open up!" He yelled.

The door opened a crack, a paranoid eye peeking out, "What do you want?"

"FBI, I need to search your room," Booth growled.

"Do you have a warrant?" the voice was mousy and held about as much authority as a bag of peanuts. _Great another one whose watched too much Law and Order. _

"Sir," Booth's voice was like gravel, "We are looking for two small children. Will you please let us in?"

"No, I know my rights. You can't just barge in here without a warrant - or reasonable doubt," the man snapped haughtily.

Booth looked at Keyshaw, "Evelyn, does he sound like he's hiding something to you?"

In her most dramatic voice, Keyshaw replied, "Why, yes it does Agent Booth. He may have the children in there."

"I'd say that's reasonable doubt," he gave her a humorless grin as he raised his foot and kicked the stateroom door in, knocking the mousy man backwards.

Booth couldn't suppress a dark smirk at seeing the man lolling about on the floor, holding his hand against his bleeding nose. Booth pulled up the bed sheets again, searching underneath it as Evelyn checked the bathroom. She came out holding a plastic baggy between two fingers.

"Oh, look," she said, raising the baggy into the air so Booth could see it, "Cocaine."

Booth took one look at the bag and then hauled Mousy Man off the floor by his collar. The man cried out in pain and started swearing and threatening Booth with a lawsuit. The agent ignored his statements but slammed him against the wall.

"Did you buy that stuff onboard?" Booth questioned fiercely.

Mousy Man was caught off-guard, "What?"

"The Coke, did you buy it onboard?" Booth asked again, this time with the added flourish of pushing the guy further into the wall.

Mousy Man looked between Booth and Evelyn, "Uh, I don't remember."

Booth glanced at Evelyn, "He doesn't remember, huh," he dragged the man into the armoire, "Better start remembering."

The man squeaked and Booth shook him roughly, "Yeah! Okay, yeah, I bought it from some dancer the other night. She said it was pure stuff."

Booth dropped the man like a sack of potatoes onto the floor. He turned to Evelyn.

"Regina," he said and she nodded. Mousy Man looked up at them from the floor.

"She told me her name was Eve," he said. Booth frowned down at him. _Eve, Eve, Eve - why was that name so familiar? _His mind reached backwards into the last two days, going over every detail. And then - like the proverbial light bulb - he had it. Eve was name of the woman who had told him about Regina's extra curricular affairs.

"Evelyn, go round up Eve Costello. She's one of the dancers who worked with Regina," he ordered.

"Sure thing, Booth," the woman replied, giving Mousy a kick in the side for good measure.

He started out of the room when the sense of dread he'd been feeling since he and Bones had found their room torn apart suddenly flared anew. His hand shook painfully as he reached into his jeans and pulled out his cell phone. He needed to know she was all right.

* * *

She felt the obnoxious buzzing of her cell phone in her pocket as _Hot Blooded_ rang in the stunned silence. Her arm twitched in response but she tried to hide it.

Captain Antoine gave her a smirk, the gun still raised and pointed squarely between her eyes. He held out his free hand.

"Give it to me," he instructed. Brennan pulled the Blackberry from her jeans and stepped toward the Captain and was severely displeased to see him step back. He lowered the arm that had been out to her and pointed to the ground by her feet.

"Kick it over," he ordered. Temperance bent to ground, glaring up at him - her eyes never leaving his - angry that she had lost her possible leverage on him. She straightened and toed the phone over to him. Instead of picking it up, he slammed a boot down on it, grinding the plastic into dust against the steel floor as the music cut off abruptly.

"No partner here to save you, Dr. Brennan," Antoine laughed, "Hernandez, tie her up with the brats. They can all go in with the body."

Temperance felt Hernandez come up behind her and take her upper arm in his hand. She knew she could take this guy out easily, but she was worried that Antoine would shoot her like Pierce and then Parker and Izzy would be left completely unprotected.

She almost smiled with the unsettling thought that her maternal instincts were kicking in. But logically she knew it was better that she stay and wait for Booth to find them. And he would find them.

She just knew he would.

* * *

Booth snapped his phone shut - panic coursing through him even more now as he heard the voice in his mind:

_This phone is no longer in service_. _This phone is no longer in service_._ This phone is no longer in service_.

He felt physically sick. Pierce wasn't answering his phone either. Booth tried to remind himself to breathe. _Okay, think like Bones; where's the most logical place to look for the kids? Rationally, where should we start? _

He started running down the deck; he had no idea where he was going, he was relying on pure instinct. He knew Bones. He knew how she thought - he may not understand it all the time - but he knew it. He knew her. He knew how to find her.

He was going to find her.

He was going to find them all.

* * *

Brennan eyed Pierce's prone body and knew he was running out of time if he wasn't dead already. From her spot against the wall she couldn't tell whether he was breathing or not. But from the amount of blood that was surrounding him, she had to think probably not. The thought sickened her.

She watched as Antoine and Hernandez attempted to push Regina's dead weight into the boiler and idly realized that this was why the Captain had been so against letting her send the body back to the Jeffersonian. He was probably worried that there was trace evidence that could be linked to him. _Seems a little pointless now though_, she thought. And she cringed when she recalled that she - not to mention Parker and Izzy - were next.

She glanced up at the staircase and decided that this was it: she couldn't wait for Booth any longer. She needed to get them out of there. She inspected the handcuffs around her wrists, twisting her hands every which way, trying to pull them loose.

It was no good - she knew - she'd have to dislocate one of them to get herself free. She winced but closed her eyes anyway. Locking her jaw to keep from crying out - she pulled her wrist out of it's socket. Her eyes started to water but when she opened them she found that Antoine and Hernandez were still busy loading Regina and - Brennan realized - all her notes from the case into the boiler.

She heaved a sigh of relief as pain coursed down her arm. She twisted her hand out of the cuff and slipped her arms from around the pipe. As quietly as she could, she slipped up behind Hernandez and kicked his legs out. He fell backwards, his temple connecting solidly with the corner of the boiler door and went down with a loud thud, landing near her feet. Antoine had pulled his gun from his waistband but before he could get a good grip on it, Temperance threw her good wrist against his elbow - effectively knocking the gun from his hand.

But he was quicker than she had previously thought and he slammed his fist against her jaw before she had time to react. She whirled away from him as the room spun and she found her feet getting tangled up with Hernandez's prone body. She felt the world whip past her as she tripped backwards, landing hard on her wrist.

She looked up in time to see Antoine retrieving his gun and turning to back to her. She breathed sharply and felt the world slow as two distinct sounds split across the room.

It was over in a second. Antoine lurched forward, blood pouring from his mouth - and once again Brennan was left to face a gun. Except this time it was Booth who was standing behind it. Her eyes fluttered carefully to her side to find the bullet that had been meant for her lodged deep in the metal floor.

She let out a shaky breath as Booth ran down the stairs to her side. She cradled her dislocated wrist gingerly but didn't wince when he helped to her feet. With little reserve the two adults rushed over to where Parker and Izzy were both sobbing loudly.

Brennan scurried to Hernandez's body and pulled the keys from his pocket before crawling back to the kids and helping Booth release them. When he was free Parker lunged at Booth - the little boy throwing his arms around his father's neck and clinging to the man. Temperance couldn't help pulling Izzy against her chest and stroking the little girl's hair softly.

She breathed heavily, glancing at Booth. He was crying. And with less surprise than she thought, she found she was too.

* * *

"That is the last time I ever go on a cruise," Booth whined as he hefted his and Parker's bags over his shoulder. Unfortunately, Hernandez and Antoine had both lived but they, along with Eve Costello, had been arrested. Apparently, Antoine got the drugs, Eve found the girls to sell them and Hernandez made sure everything was tight as a whistle - until Regina had wanted out. It was a good thing Hernandez and Costello were so chatty now - they'd be going to jail for life but Antoine would undoubtably be getting the Death Penalty. Booth didn't really feel too bad.

Evelyn Keyshaw gave him a warm smile. He thanked God that Mike Pierce had lived too. Apparently a few more minutes and the poor cop would have been six feet under.

"Wait till Mommy hears about this!" Parker exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on his heels, as he slurped at the ice cream cone in his hand.

Booth's face paled noticeably, and Evelyn laughed, bending down to Parker's height, "Why don't you keep this between you and your Daddy? It can be like your little secret," she suggested.

Parker's eyes lit up with the thought of a secret, "Oh cool!" And suddenly his attention was elsewhere as Brennan and Izzy walked up.

"Thanks," Booth murmured to Evelyn.

"No big deal, I've got nieces," the woman replied.

"Hello Officer Keyshaw," Brennan greeted the police officer with a smile, "How is your partner?"

"He's alive, and complaining as usual," she joked, "And he won't shut up about the damn pudding either."

"My man," Booth grinned, his mind remembering fondly the taste of hospital pudding.

"I'm just glad he's all right," Brennan replied.

"Me too," Evelyn said, giving Brennan a wide smile, before looking at Izzy, who was holding onto Brennan's hand, "You ready to go see your grandparents, Izzy?"

The little girl glanced up at Temperance as the doctor kneeled down in front of her.

"Do I have to leave you Tempe?" she asked. Brennan smiled lightly.

"Don't you wanna see your grandparents?" she asked.

Izzy seemed to be debating it before she asked, "Am I ever gonna see you again?"

Temperance had learned from Booth that you acted differently when dealing with children, but she had never been a liar and she wasn't going to start now, even if it was painful to be honest.

"I don't know, Izzy."

"Yeah, I don't know either," she looked down at her tiny pink sneakers.

Brennan slipped her hand into her bag and pulled out one of her business cards. With a little effort she pressed it into Izzy's hand.

"Here, this has my phone number on it. You can call me any time, okay?"

Izzy nodded before throwing her arms around Tempe's neck and squeezing it tightly. Temperance let her eyes slide shut as she hugged the little girl. After a moment, she pulled back and stood up.

Before Izzy could take Evelyn's outstretched hand, Parker stepped up to her and handed her his copy of _The Sword in the Stone_.

"You liked it and I'm kinda bored of it, so I thought you would want it," he muttered. She hugged the DVD box to her chest and smiled at him as she grabbed hold of Evelyn's hand. The Officer said goodbye and led Izzy away from them. The girl only looked back once but she was met with three waves and her sad look turned into a smile.

"So," Booth began.

Temperance felt the tension flare up around them again. She sighed. She didn't want to go back to DC. Didn't want to go back to the way things were before.

She didn't want to go back to Sully.

* * *

**A/N:** I lied, we're getting an Epilogue, and we're getting it tonight. So be happy!


	13. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Disclaimer:** I only own the characters not normally seen on the show.

**Previously:** Booth and Brennan saved the day…

* * *

Booth cracked his neck painfully as he put another load of clothes in the washing machine. He hated doing laundry. But he'd needed a distraction.

In truth all he'd wanted to do when he got home was open up a bottle of Jack, get piss drunk and pass out on his couch. But he couldn't do that - he knew that drinking - even warranted - wouldn't solve his problems. It would just give him a mother of a headache the next day when he had to face them.

So he decided that unpacking was probably a good idea. Problem was doing laundry didn't really require much higher brain function past _clothes in washer, detergent, fabric softener, dryer_. So he found he was more engrossed in his thoughts.

And all his thoughts revolved around Bones; namely the scene at the Dulles Airport when they had landed; namely Tim Sullivan.

He'd been there, waiting for her like a good boyfriend. He had embraced her, kissed her. Booth had to stop himself from cringing even with the memory. He didn't know if they'd left together - he assumed they had - as he and Parker had gone off to meet up with Rebecca.

Now Booth was standing in his laundry room, a beer sitting on top of the dryer - because, really, some alcohol was deserved after his vacation from hell - folding his tee shirts, trying _not_ to think about Temperance Brennan.

And failing. Miserably.

A gentle knock at his door had Booth nearly tripping over the pile of still dirty clothing on his floor. He swore under his breath as he steadied himself and moved into the foyer and to the door. He looked through the peep hole and his breathing stopped.

He opened the door to find her standing there, looking completely uncomfortable and just as absolutely perfect as the morning he woke up beside her. She gave him a sad look and he stepped aside - allowing her into his house.

"Where's Parker?" she asked. She was fishing. They both knew it but Booth didn't call her on it.

"He's with Rebecca."

"Oh…right." Lame.

"What're you doing here Bones?" he asked tiredly. He really just wanted her to leave so he could get back to _not_ thinking about her.

She turned on him abruptly, "Sully bought a boat."

Talk about left field. He raised an eyebrow, "Uh…cool?"

"He wants me to go away with him - for a year."

Booth's heart skittered to a stop. He was pretty damn sure that someone had suddenly clamped a vice around it and was methodically screwing it tighter and tighter.

"And?" he managed.

She didn't say anything, just gave him a pointed look that he didn't understand. He thought she was waiting for _his_ opinion, so he gave it - or a version of it, anyway.

"He's a good guy," Booth was surprised he even said it as his eyes dropped to the floor - hoping she wouldn't see the emotions flitting across them.

Brennan's voice grew very quiet, "What about you?"

Booth steeled his resolve and looked up at her, "What _about _me?"

"I mean - I just thought - after what happened - I -," she didn't know what she was saying.

"I can't Bones. I'm sorry," he sank down to the edge of the couch, "I wish I could but I can't."

Temperance slipped down beside him, sitting far enough away that they weren't touching but close enough that she could reach her graceful little fingers across the space to barely brush his leg. She retracted her hand abruptly, as if she was surprised she'd even done it.

"Why not?" she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Because I love you Bones. And I can't be the other guy. I deserve better than that," he stated with what little was left of his resolve.

He heard her sharp intake of breath but didn't chance looking up at her. She didn't seem to like that.

"Booth," she prodded gently. He noted with some confusion that her voice seemed to have lost it's sadness. "Booth," she tried again. This time she let her fingers travel across his cheek and under his chin, tugging gently she forced him to look at her.

"What if you weren't the _other_ guy, could you do it then?" she inquired.

He frowned. She couldn't be saying what he thought she was saying, "What?"

She smiled, "What if you weren't the _other _guy," she said again, "what if you were just _the guy_?"

Yup, he was pretty sure his heart was at a dead stop at this point. He gave her a wide-eyed nervous expression. His whole world rested in the answer to his next question.

"What about Sully?"

She shook her head, letting her hand drop from his face, "He was leaving, with or without me. I chose without."

His smiled started to bloom involuntarily.

"Besides," she continued, "I have this strange aversion to boats right now." Her lips curled into a mischievous smile as she leaned towards him.

"Bones, was that a joke?" Booth teased, his breath mingling with hers at their closeness.

"Booth?"

"Hmm?"

"Shut up," she ordered as she pressed her lips to his - her hand slipping to the back of his neck, pulling him ever closer. His own hands moved around her waist and pulled her flush against him as they leaned together back into the couch.

Her mouth was just as perfect as he remembered. She was warm and inviting and luxurious and he was pretty damn sure he never wanted to kiss another woman after this - they just couldn't compare.

It was slower than their last encounter but he didn't mind. He liked the feeling of her pressed against him; he liked dipping his hands in her silky hair and feeling her fingers play with the cotton of his tee shirt.

When she finally pulled away she settled against his chest. He continued stroking her hair with one hand and let the other fall to her back, tracing small circles over her jacket.

"Bones," he said after a minute.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I think we should go on vacation." He was only half serious.

She groaned.

"How about we just spend a day in bed and see where _that_ leads?"

God, he liked her suggestion _so much_ better.

"Good plan, Bones; good plan."

* * *

The End.

**A/N:** So this is it. Sorry that to those of you who wanted to see more Sully in this last part but I wanted it to be all BB. Also sorry about all the crazy updates and prolonged absences, but thank you very much to those who stayed the whole time, or came back and also to those who started out new. I appreciated all your feedback, insights and suggestions; it really helped me get over writer's block when it hit. This has been quite a ride and I hope you have enjoyed it! Thank you and goodnight!


End file.
